• 09/04/2023
• By wizewebsite
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Aitjak against Russia. Who is the man the government almost got stuck on<

Článek

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When the Pirates entered high politics, the most questionable was their stance on foreign policy. They preached radical direct democracy and, even in the turbulent times of Brexit, toyed with the idea of ​​a referendum on Czech membership in the EU and NATO.

But times are changing. In a government dominated by conservative forces and full of power "hawks", the Pirates will manage diplomacy.

Undoubtedly, Jan Lipavský personally worked out that the keys to the Černín Palace would indeed be given to the young party. For the last four years, he has been building a bridge between the wild core of the Pirates, who love pacifist demonstrations, and the men and women almost from the other side of the barricade - the security and diplomatic establishment.

The unexpected alliance was recorded by the complex backdrops of the past four years – the political landscape in the Czech Republic was significantly shaped by the tender for the completion of the Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant and the dispute over the participation of Russia and China in it. Lipavský belonged to the "Koudelka team" in the Dukovany party, which cornered President Miloš Zeman in the grand final.

On a happy wave

Lipavský was brought to the highest level of Czech politics by a lucky wave in the elections in 2017. The pirates then surprisingly received over ten percent of the vote, and people entered the House of Representatives who could only dream of the deputy's seat due to their unpromising position on the candidate list. Lipavský is also among them.

"Dude, Honzo, you're going to be a member of parliament," described the euphoric shouts of the Pirates in Mladá fronta DNES in a report from the Pirates' election staff in October 2017. However, Lipavský was a member of parliament only for the following four years. This year, surprisingly (similar to other prominent faces of the Pirate Party), he did not fight his way into the lower house - he fell victim to circling in favor of the Starosts on the PirStan candidate list.

"Although politics is a craft where you are in the center of attention, I am actually more of an introvert. I try not only to leave behind words, but also actions," says this "Praža by heart and soul" about himself.

Surprise: Zeman will also appoint a government with Lipavský, Fiala announced

Profesně se před politikou věnoval – tak trochu dle pirátského klišé – IT oblasti. Podle oficiálního životopisu pracoval například v globální americké poradenské firmě McKinsley & Company či v českém e-shopu s oděvy Zoot.

He would like to use his IT experience in the Černín Palace as well – in the 21st century, the topic of cyber security is essential in diplomacy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in the midst of a comprehensive transformation of IT systems. And as previously described by Seznam Zpravy, the company that has been put in charge for the time being has a number of untrustworthy features.

From business to politics

It is said that Lipavský entered politics to contribute to "the Czech Republic being a self-confident country that its citizens can rely on". According to his words, he is willing to fight for that. At the same time, he returned to his original field of study – he studied international politics at Charles University, and as part of the EU Erasmus program he also spent two semesters at the University of Kent in Great Britain. Not only did he gain confidence in English conversation from this trip to the world, he is also learning German and Russian.

However, Lipavský left the university with only a lower bachelor's degree. For example, this would not be enough for him for an official career in diplomacy. But Lipavský emphasizes that he came to politics primarily with business experience.

"Already during my studies, I started working in various business positions. I naturally moved between positions in marketing, e-commerce and finally banking. For the longest time, I devoted myself to the development of IT systems for trading on the capital markets in the Czech Republic," he described to Seznam Zprávy Lipavský his professional development and why he left his studies soon.

Last Friday, it was Lipavský's academic results that President Zeman explained his opposition to his appointment as head of the Černín Palace. He called a bachelor's degree a "low qualification". However, he was not similarly demanding in the past, for example, towards the head of the ČSSD, Jan Hamáček, whom he appointed to ministerial positions, including the mandate to lead diplomacy, without reservations. And he only has a high school education.

Bartoš: We passed the test. It is good that we are not going to war with Zeman

From today's point of view, however, the subject of the bachelor's thesis of the future foreign minister is almost visionary: "Politicization of Russian energy supplies using the example of natural gas".

In the previous House of Representatives, Lipavský served as vice-chairman of the foreign affairs and security committees. And his topic became precisely the export of Russian influence through the energy sector - materialized in the Czech environment in the already mentioned nuclear tender for the completion of Dukovan.

Czech reporters, led by BIS chief Michal Koudelka, and the security community together with the opposition – i.e. today's coalition of five – were against Russia's participation in the tender, warning against the strengthening of hostile Russian activities in the Czech Republic. On the contrary, the president lobbied for the admission of the Russians to the competition. He argued with economic interests and trivialized the concerns of security experts, as well as the work of Czech intelligence officers.

The outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) publicly maintained a neutral position and finally eliminated the Russians after the Vrbětice case, when it became clear that agents of the Russian military intelligence GRU were apparently behind the explosion in the ammunition warehouse in Moravia. The consequence was the historic layout of the intelligence headquarters of the Russians at the Russian embassy in Moscow.

"For me, the most important thing about the completion of Dukovan was to guarantee that the project would not become a black hole for money for the state and citizens and that the security of the Czech Republic would be ensured. In this regard, I believe the recommendations of our security experts and communities, who warned against the involvement of Russia and China in the tender," says Lipavský today.

The background to Fiala and Zeman's agreement on the government: The president did not want to lose completely

Indirectly, it was also an offensive against Prague Castle - the president and his people bet everything on rapprochement with the eastern authoritarian powers.

The architect of this complex intelligence operation of the decade was undoubtedly BIS chief Michal Koudelka and other intelligence officers and diplomats. But it would be difficult for them to move without political "cover" - added Babiš, who until then acted as Zeman's ally.

However, one of the most active players was Lipavský - he was a co-author of the amendment to the low-carbon law, i.e. the lex Dukovany, which effectively finally enacted the exclusion of Russians and Chinese from the tender. At a certain stage of Dukovan's strategic game, the amendments played an obstructive role in the discussion of nuclear legislation in the Parliament.

Signing the lex Dukovany must have been a bitter moment for Zeman.

At the same time, the geopolitical orientation of the Pirates in their beginnings made Czech security experts nervous. Among other things, the participation of the pirate MPs Mikuláš Peksa and Dana Balcarová at the reception of the Russian embassy, ​​where they took pictures of themselves happily eating pirogues, contributed to this. It was 2018, and even then BIS warned of the growing activity of Russian espionage in the Czech Republic and their efforts to infiltrate Czech institutions. Peksa, who is today an MEP, voted against joining the government.

"The basis for us to promote liberal positions in the government is very good. I have a lot of respect for Honzo Lipavský, because he is going into a difficult situation and will have to defend his liberal positions against relatively significant odds. But I believe he will make it," Peksa told Seznam Zprávám.

A game about Koudelka

Lipavský does not want to speculate about what was behind Zeman's resistance to appointing him. He doesn't even want to say what ultimately softened the president. "You'll have to ask Peter Fiala that," Jen says.

However, the name of the head of the BIS, Michal Koudelka, persistently hovers over the whole dispute about the appointment of the government, including Lipavský. His regular five-year mandate ended this summer, and Babiš - even though they also functioned as unexpected allies in a number of matters - only entrusted him with the leadership of counterintelligence, leaving the decision on the appointment for the regular term up to the new government.

Zeman's position has been known for a long time - to remove Koudelka. The coalition of five, when it was the opposition, stood behind the head of the BIS. In any case, the attitude of the new government towards Koudelka and the secret services is good to watch. For example, the head of the ODS parliamentary club, Marek Benda, avoided a question at the press conference of the coalition of five in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday.

"Ask about what is within the competence of the House of Representatives, not about what is within the competence of the government," he responded. Sources close to the five-coalition are starting to talk about the fact that the new government could revise the appointment processes of security chiefs - for example, it may be considered whether the head of the BIS should have the opportunity to serve two consecutive five-year terms, whether this "petrifies" the service too much, or whether the head whether the head of Military Intelligence should continue to have an unlimited management mandate.

Bottom left: Fiala has trump cards over Zeman that Babiš never dreamed of

But Lipavský openly supported Koudelka in the past. "If the prime minister has all five together, he will keep Koudelka in office," he told Andrej Babiš, saying that otherwise "politicization and the dubious interests of the Castle will win."

However, Lipavský denies that he is directly on the side of the secret services. "The fact that a Czech politician takes a similar position as state officials is not necessarily taking sides. Neither politicians nor officials should stand on any side other than the side of the citizens of the Czech Republic," he concludes for Seznam Zprávy.

By the way, you can see how he chooses his words much more carefully after the lesson with the threat of anonymity. At the same time, he started his ministerial tour by trumpeting the battle - he declared in Diary N that he would prefer to cancel the already agreed upon ambassadors. According to behind-the-scenes experts, by timing his strong words, he only revealed his inexperience and ignorance of the difference between parliamentary and more fragile executive politics.

On Jerusalem

Despite the prestigious position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, it will be very difficult for Lipavský to build a strong position. European policy, and thus primarily the Czech presidency of the EU, will be in charge of Mayor Mikuláš Bek at the Government Office.

At the Straka Academy, Prime Minister Petr Fiala will also have his "Foreign Minister", currently the advisor for foreign affairs and security, Tomáš Pojar. He does not have a ministerial position on his business card, but compared to Lipavský, he has a lot of experience - he was the head of the humanitarian organization People in Need and first deputy foreign minister, in this capacity he co-managed the first Czech presidency of the EU in 2009 and negotiated with the USA about the American radar base, he was also Czech ambassador to Israel. Looking ahead, he could become the first Czech National Security Advisor in history.

Lipavský will bring more liberal and leftist tones of the European mainstream to Czech foreign policy. However, he does not agree on them not only with President Miloš Zeman, but mainly with the more conservative part of the coalition, and thus also its main political force, the ODS.

The balance of power can be shown, for example, in the question of the relationship with Israel. From many points of view, it seems to be a historically favorable constellation to take a step that Czech hawks have been dreaming of for years – to move the Czech embassy to Jerusalem, thereby de facto recognizing the disputed city as the metropolis of the Jewish state before reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, such a decision would have to be made and signed by the pirate Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, who will - among other things - be under strong pressure from his party base.