A dozen student protesters interrupted a debate involving Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) at the Faculty of Social Studies (FSS) of Brno’s Masaryk University yesterday afternoon, arguing that the PM’s speech was an election campaign event which had no place on campus.
The protesters stood in front of the Prime Minister and the moderator of the debate with banners and noisemakers during the first hour of the two-hour discussion, and refused to leave the venue, criticising Fiala’s support for Israel and US President Donald Trump..
As they were entering the atrium where the debate took place, the activists handed out leaflets with the caption: “Fiala, FSS is no longer yours.”
The start of the debate in the packed atrium was uneventful, with Fiala and moderator Robert Bednar discussing US policy and the war in Ukraine.
After nearly half an hour of the debate, about a dozen students stood up in the audience, chanting the slogan “FSS is not the right bank”, a reference to the name of Fiala’s political think tank. They descended the stairs to the prime minister and stood between him and the audience, using noisemakers to disrupt the event while other supporters threw leaflets from the upper floors.
“This faculty is not yours, you are supporting the president of the United States who is dismantling democratic institutions,” shouted activists from the upper floors of the atrium.
The prime minister approached the protesters and invited them to join the debate.
“I didn’t come to debate, I came to protest,” one of the students replied. “So you have protested, and now you could let those who have come to debate ask questions,” said Fiala, to applause from the crowd.
After a moment of negotiations, the protesters remained in their seats, but allowed the discussion to continue. Expressions of discontent could be heard from the crowd and the upper floors for the remainder of the debate.
The debate continued for another hour with protesters standing behind the Prime Minister and not interrupting the debate. Some took the opportunity to ask him questions, criticising his government’s support for Israel and the financial support of ODS and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) for FSS Dean and senator Stanislav Balik (independent).
Fiala read out all the banners the students had brought to the stage, agreeing with many of their claims. “Stop Russian gas, it is very important, I agree with that and I am glad that we don’t need Russian gas nowadays,” he said.
However, he objected to the banner “Fiala supports the genocide of children”, a reference to the Czech Republic’s strong support for Israel’s military action in Gaza, which has caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
In the final words of the debate, Fiala, who came to FSS at the invitation of the student association, thanked everyone for their participation and said that it was necessary to encourage debate even when people disagree with each other.
“Yes, democracy is a debate. I am glad that we were able to have it in the end, even if it was prevented for a while by pro-Palestinian demonstrators,” Fiala wrote on social media yesterday evening. “I am proud of the hundreds of students who helped me handle the situation, who did not let themselves be annoyed by the group of protesters, who stayed and had a lively discussion about international issues and the Czech Republic’s positions.”
Fiala was one of the founders of the Faculty of Social Studies in Brno, and briefly became dean of the faculty in 2004, before becoming the Rector of Masaryk University. He remained in the university’s leadership for two terms, until 2011.
