The Czech Republic's Alarming Inaction Against Russian Disinformation Sparks Concern Within NATO

After Hungary and Slovakia, Alex Alvarova asks, is Russia setting up a third proxy in a row?

French President Emmanuel Macron with Czech President Petr Pavel in Prague, 5 March 2024. Photo: Michaela Rihova/CTK Photo/Alamy

In a situation where Donald Trump openly calls on Russia to attack NATO states and thus sabotages the alliance's deepest value base, a parallel subversion is taking place from within.

The Czech Republic finds itself at the forefront of a growing concern within NATO as it grapples with a surge in Russian disinformation activities. Despite being among the first targets of Russian influence operations in Europe, the Czech Government's reluctance to acknowledge and combat this threat has raised serious alarms among security professionals.

Bannon in Prague

When Steve Bannon graced the stage in Prague back in May 2018, the Czech media greeted him with little more than a quizzical arch of the eyebrow. Teaming up with lawyer and lobbyist Lanny Davis, Bannon descended upon the grand Art Nouveau Hall in Prague, joined in discourse by Alexandr Vondra, the erstwhile Czech Defense Minister and Ambassador to the United States. To many observers, it seemed like just another instance of "conservative business as usual." Yet, beneath this veneer of familiarity lurked a deeper reality.

Under the banner of "What the heck is going on in America?", this sprawling two-hour debate drew the attention of Czech adherents to pseudo-conservatism—individuals who parrot the propaganda narratives of the American Council for National Policy and think tanks bankrolled by the Koch and Mercer clans. Little did they grasp the significance of the moment: it was upon this very stage that the blueprint for the conquest of the West from within was launched.

For Vondra, encounters with Bannon and the "conservative" alliance were hardly novel. Czechs still recall Vondra's conspicuous presence at the Future of Europe conference in Budapest, a gathering to which he was summoned by Viktor Orbán. In the snapshots from that event, Vondra and Bannon are captured in jovial camaraderie alongside another attendee, British author and commentator Douglas Murray. Notable figures taking the podium at  this conference included unabashedly pro-Kremlin figures like Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó, lauded by Putin himself for his cooperative endeavors, and Václav Klaus, the former Czech President.

Completing the trifecta of guests at the Prague soirée of 2018 was none other than Lanny Davis, whose legal outfit, Davis Goldberg & Galper, served as representative for Czech arms manufacturers. Yet, Davis's legal entanglements extend beyond the realm of arms dealings; he also served as legal counsel to Michael Cohen, embroiled in the saga surrounding Donald Trump's presidency, and to Dmitro Firtash, an associate of the notorious Semyon Mogilevich, capo di tutti capi of Russian-speaking organized crime.

In Prague, Davis assumed the role of contrarian foil, strategically invited to furnish an illusion of dissent, while the esteemed Czech figure, Alexandr Vondra, lent an air of respectability, serving to normalize Bannon's presence within the liberal Czech milieu. It was a subtle dance of controlled opposition.