Britské listy · co psal za 24 h → · 1. 8. 2026 10:00
Shocking: The current questionable Czech government blocks the access of journalists it does not like to its news conferences
Photo: Petr MacinkaOn 31 July 2026, Petr Macinka’s Foreign Ministry prevented Deník N investigative journalist Zdislava Pokorná from attending its news conference. On 31 July 2026, Pokorná had applied for accreditation in time for a Foreign Ministry press conference concerning the future of the Czech Centres, cultural institutions that the Czech Republic has to date been running in foreign countries.. The Ministry refused her accreditation and did not initially give a substantive explanation. She nevertheless went to the Ministry but was not admitted. The current Czech government´s questionable "foreign secretary" Petr Macinka, leader of a problematic party of "Motorists", which is a part of Babiš´s ruling coalition government) subsequently effectively confirmed that the exclusion came at his initiative. His explanation was highly unusual: the ministry said that it intended to organise separate press conferences for “alternative media and conspiracy blogs”, supposedly as part of its commitment to “diversity of opinion”. Deník N would, according to this explanation, be invited to one of those events. The problem is that Deník N is not an alternative/conspiracy publication, and the ministry did not identify any concrete professional or accreditation reason why Pokorná should be excluded. The Czech Journalists' Syndicate therefore described the treatment as discrimination and called on the ministry to change its practice, even suggesting a boycott of its media events if it continued.