CZECH REPUBLIC: Leading politicians threaten funding and brand environmental CSOs “terrorists”

Environmental justice organisations in the Czech Republic are facing political pressure and stigmatisation following recent statements by far-right government figures. Filip Turek, an MP recently appointed as government commissioner for climate policy, suggested environmental CSOs such as Hnutí DUHA (Friends of the Earth) ) and Arnika could lose public grants over their activities and advocacy work, including the organising of protests. Petr Macinka, the deputy prime minster and foreign minister, went on to label Hnutí DUHA a “terrorist organisation.”

Civil society groups have warned that such statements stigmatise and delegitimise civil society and undermine the independence of public funding, which is allocated through expert assessment, not political approval. Threatening to withdraw funding and support over activities risks politicising grant processes and penalising civic participation, freedom of expression, and dissent. The use of “terrorism” labels by top political leaders raises further concerns. Such language can have a chilling effect, discouraging people from civic engagement and participating in public debate, exercising their freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, and expression. The incidents are not isolated: Macinka has repeatedly referred to environmental organisations as “green terrorists” on social media and called for punitive measures against them.