Tens of thousands of Czechs protested against Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Tuesday after prosecutors reopened a case into alleged subsidy fraud by the leader and Brussels declared a conflict of interest between his businesses and political role.&nbsp;



Speakers at the protest in Prague by the Million Moments for Democracy civic group demanded Babis&#8217;s former business empire Agrofert be cut off from European Union subsidies and public contracts, and they called on Babis to resign.



Tuesday&#8217;s protest was called after the country&#8217;s top prosecutor reopened last week a case against Babis, suspecting that he hid ownership of one of his firms a decade ago so it would qualify for a 2 million euro subsidy.



Separately, an audit by the European Commission, the European Union&#8217;s executive, leaked to Czech media last week, showed the Commission saw Babis in conflict of interest because he still had control over Agrofert, a conglomerate of hundreds of firms he had built over the past two decades and put into trust funds in 2017.



Babis, 65 and in power since 2017, denies any wrongdoing in the criminal case and also repeatedly said he met all legal requirements on conflict of interest by setting up the fund structure.



The protest group, set up by students, had brought a quarter of a million people to the streets in Prague twice earlier this year in the biggest demonstrations of the country&#8217;s 30-year post-communist era.SPONSORED CONTENTJonas Kaufmann stars in the mysterious opera “Die Tote Stadt”1Musica, in partnership with Rolex&nbsp;



The protest on Tuesday at Prague&#8217;s central Wenceslas Square was smaller, numbering several tens of thousands according to a Reuters&#8217; estimate, and 60,000 according to the organisers.



&#8220;A liar under investigation has no business being in the post of prime minister,&#8221; Benjamin Roll from Million Moments for Democracy told the crowd.



&#8220;The European Commission audit speaks clearly: Andrej Babis abuses political power for his own business,&#8221; he added.



Despite the protests, Babis&#8217;s populist ANO movement remains by far the most popular political party with around 30 percent of the vote, drawing support among older voters and regions outside the capital.



His firms span farming, food processing, chemicals and media, and are among the central European country&#8217;s main recipients of various EU money, from farm subsidies that are given per hectare or per animal to project-based finance for innovation and environmental investments.

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Tens of thousands Czechs protest against PM Babis after damning EU report

At least four people were killed on Tuesday and two more were seriously injured in a shooting at a hospital in the Czech city of Ostrava, police confirmed.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Policisté přijali oznámení o střelbě v nemocnici v Ostravě Porubě. Na místě nyní policisté zasahuji. Proběhla evakuce osob. <a href="https://t.co/VrDDjii6Qp">pic.twitter.com/VrDDjii6Qp</a>&mdash; Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolicieCZ/status/1204301757918195712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Police said on Twitter that they first received a report of a shooting at the hospital in the Poruba district of Ostrava, a city in the north-east of the country, at 07:19 CET and were at the scene five minutes later.



They added that people had been evacuated and that they were &#8220;intensely searching for the perpetrator&#8221;.



They also released a picture of the suspect, asking the public for help and to act with the &#8220;utmost caution&#8221;.

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Four killed in Czech hospital shooting, police say

Police in the Czech Republic have launched an investigation into complaints that a mask depicting Adolf Hitler was spotted on sale in a shop in Prague, Euronews <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2019/11/07/czech-police-investigate-claims-hitler-mask-was-on-sale-in-prague-shop">reports</a>. 



Christoph Israng, the German ambassador to the Czech Republic, tweeted a picture of the mask the day after Halloween as he passed the shop.



&#8220;The Czechs suffered so much under the Nazis,&#8221; he wrote, adding: &#8220;Why is such trash sold in the middle of Prague?&#8221;



Among the dozens of responses, Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek said police had since begun an investigation into the shop.



The Czech police also confirmed to Euronews that it was &#8220;dealing with this matter&#8221;, but said it was &#8220;not at liberty to provide more information at this time.&#8221;



Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Prague&#8217;s central district told AFP the shop had since lost its rental agreement in the Malá Strana district.



&#8220;Let&#8217;s admit that some shops tarnish the reputation of the Prague heritage area,&#8221; the mayor of the city&#8217;s central disctrict, Pavel Čižinský, was quoted by AFP as saying.



Hundreds of thousands of people were killed — many of them Jews — under the Nazi occupation between 1938 and 1945 of what was fomerly known as Czechoslovakia.

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Czech police investigate claims Hitler mask was on sale in Prague shop

Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic broke European Union law by refusing to take in asylum seekers coming to the bloc during the summer of 2015, according to an&nbsp;<a href="https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2019-10/cp190133en.pdf">advisory body</a>&nbsp;to the union&#8217;s highest court.



The three eastern European countries refused to take in any migrants, citing security concerns and questioned the EU&#8217;s legal ground for assigning each country a quota of people to take in.



The matter ended up in court with the Advocate General — which advises the European Court of Justice (ECJ) — saying on Thursday that EU law must be followed as well as the bloc&#8217;s principle of solidarity &#8220;necessarily sometimes implies accepting burden-sharing.&#8221;



Though not obliged to, the ECJ often follows the Advocate General&#8217;s opinions.



A ruling in the case will take place early next year. The court could fine member countries that violate the law.



This comes as Germany warned of a repeat of the 2015 EU migration crisis — expressing concern over rising migrant arrivals from Turkey.



Responding to the Advocate General&#8217;s opinion, Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller said that &#8220;ensuring security for our citizens is the most important goal of the government&#8217;s policies. Out actions were dictated by the interests of Polish citizens and the need for protection against uncontrolled migration&#8221;



In 2015, more than a million refugees and migrants from the Middle East crossed over to the EU.



The EU tried to introduce quotas to make sharing out asylum-seekers automatic among member states to help southern countries on the Mediterranean where most people arrived.



But vehement opposition by Warsaw, Budapest and others has largely defeated the attempt and, four years on, the bloc is still fighting over how to manage those seeking shelter from the wars in the Middle East or poverty and conflicts in Africa.

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Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic broke EU law by refusing to take in migrants

Prague police arrested 31 football fans on Friday evening after violence erupted ahead of the Czech Republic vs England Euro 2020 qualifying match.



Fourteen of those detained were foreigners, police said, adding that the arrest could not be made &#8220;without the use of coercive means.&#8221;



The violence started at around 19:00 local time and was concentrated around two restaurants with football fans throwing glasses and bottles at armed riot police. Authorities used sound grenades and dogs to keep the violence in check.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Policisté omezili na osobní svobodě celkem 31 osob z toho 14 cizinců. Zákroky se neobešly bez použití donucovacích prostředků.&mdash; Policie ČR (@PolicieCZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/PolicieCZ/status/1182730279036866561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2019</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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England manager Gareth Southgate told reporters of the England fans&#8217; behaviour: &#8220;Of course, always disappointing and I think I&#8217;ve always spoken about how we would want everybody to conduct themselves.&#8221;



Some 3,800 England fans had tickets to watch the game, hoping for a repeat of the 5-0 thumping the Three Lions handed the Czechs at Wembley in March.



But the English side suffered its first Euro qualifying defeat in a decade with a shock 2-1 loss and failed to qualify just yet.

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Czech police arrest 31, including 14 foreigners, after Euro 2020 qualifier against England

A fraud charge that has plagued the Czech Prime Minister for the last four years has been dropped.



Andrej Babis, his family members and others had been accused of manipulating ownership of a farm and convention centre to win European Union subsidies more than a decade ago.



Babis has always denied the claim.



Czech political parties had refused to cooperate with Babis’s ruling populist ANO movement since it swept to power in 2017 as a result of the investigation.



The case against Babis, the billionaire founder and former owner of the chemicals, food, farming and media group Agrofert, focused on a 2 million euro subsidy granted in 2008 for building the Stork’s Nest centre outside of Prague.



Agrofert transferred ownership of the Stork’s Nest firm to anonymous owners &#8211; that were later revealed to include Babis&#8217; wife and other relatives so that it would qualify for funding, which was intended for small and medium businesses.



However, prosecutors found this was not illegal.



&#8220;The evidence gathering led to the conclusion that the Stork’s Nest Farm met the definition of a small and medium-sized business,&#8221; attorney Martin Erazim said in a statement.



&#8220;Despite the established connections between (Agrofert and Stork’s Nest), mainly through family members, Stork’s Nest was correctly assessed as an independent company,&#8221; he added.



The Prague state attorney’s decision will be reviewed by the supreme state attorney who has the right to overturn it if he finds it at odds with the law.



Despite all this, Babis&#8217; ANO party remains the most popular political force in the Czech Republic, with support close to 30 percent, according to Reuters.



However, the controversy has caused swathes of protests and unrest. &#8211; and Babis still faces other investigations.

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Andrej Babis probe: Czech lawyers drop fraud charges against prime minister

A Czech state attorney has halted an investigation of suspected fraud by Prime Minister Andrej Babis, the newspaper Denik N reported on Monday, citing two sources with knowledge of the state attorney’s decision.
The police have charged Babis with illegal tapping of a 2 million euro ($2.2 million) development subsidy a decade ago and prior to his entry into politics.
The state attorney is scheduled to officially comment on his decision at 9:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT).

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Czech state attorney halts investigation of P.M. Babis – newspaper

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Sunday there would be a snap election if his coalition partner goes through with threat to quit, raising the prospect of more political turmoil after weeks of street protests against his rule, Reuters reports.
Babis told a TV debate he had already ruled out seeking the support of the far-right, anti-EU and anti-NATOFreedom and Direct Democracy party, so a new vote would be the only option.
“I believe the Social Democrats will not leave the government,” Babis said, referring to his left-leaning junior coalition partner.
“Why would they? It would be a complete suicide, because it would de facto mean an early election,” he added. The next election is currently scheduled for late 2021.
Babis’ minority coalition government survived a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition about the protests on Thursday.
But it immediately plunged back into turmoil when the Social Democrats threatened to quit in protest at President Milos Zeman’s refusal to appoint a new culture minister from their ranks.
They have called on Babis to press the president to make the appointment. But Zeman has refused to budge, saying he prefers the current minister.
Tens of thousands took to the streets of Prague on Sunday last week – the biggest anti-government protest in the Czech post-communist era – demanding Babis step down over criminal and financial investigations against him.
The billionaire-turned-politician has denied any wrongdoing.
An opinion poll by Kantar agency, released by the Czech Television on Sunday, showed Babis’ ANO party still leading the rest – but the 25.5 percent reading was it’s worst showing since 2016.

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Czech PM warns of snap election if coalition crumbles

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis&#8217; minority government survived a no-confidence vote early Thursday.
The billionaire-turned-politician faces investigations into fraud accusations) (subsidies, conflict of interest and the abuse of those EU funds by his business empire.
After a marathon 17-hour debate, the opposition failed to muster 101 votes in the 200-seat parliament needed to topple the government. The final vote was 85 against and 85 for, with 30 abstentions or votes not cast.
Babis&#8217; ANO party is in a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, but relies on further support from the Communists — not a formal ally of Babis&#8217; — to reach a majority of 108 seats in the parliament.
The no confidence vote was prompted by a preliminary report by European Commission auditors that found Babis still has influence over Agrofert, a sprawling agriculture, food and media empire.
He put the business into trust in 2017 after he became prime minister, but after he had already served as deputy prime minister and finance minister since 2014.
The final audit expected later this year could result in Agrofert having to repay up to €17.4 million ($19.7 million) in EU subsidies.
Babis denies any wrongdoing. ANO remains the country&#8217;s most popular party with around 30% support, despite protests last weekend calling for his resignation that drew nearly a quarter of a million people in the capital, Prague.

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Czech government survives no-confidence vote

Hundreds of thousands are expected to rally at the Letna Park in Prague on Sunday to demand the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis in what will likely be the biggest public confrontation with the government since the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
Some 400,000 have signed a petition calling on the embattled populist billionaire to step down amid multiple scandals.
The forthcoming protest follows a wave of massive street rallies across the country, following the recent appointment of a new justice minister at a time when prosecutors have to decide whether to indict Babis over alleged fraud involving European Union funds.
The protesters fear the activities of the minister might undermine the independence of the country&#8217;s legal system.
&#8220;It&#8217;s interesting but also it&#8217;s a shame that our political situation is in such a state that something like this has to happen,&#8221; Benjamin Roll, a member of a student group called Million Moments for Democracy that organizes the protests, said.
&#8220;On the other hand, I&#8217;m glad that we are succeeding in mobilizing the civil society and that what I see is the most important task of our group,&#8221; the 24-year-old student added.
Babis has dismissed the protests as &#8220;absolutely silly.&#8221;
A preliminary European Union report that leaked in May concluded that Babis might be in a conflict of interest over EU subsidies for his former business empire.
Babis denied wrongdoing and attacked the EU for trying to destabilise the Czech Republic.
Yet the scandals have not harmed popular support for his anti-establishment ANO (YES) movement, which won in a landslide the 2017 parliamentary elections.

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Hundreds of thousands expected to rally in Prague in biggest protests since Velvet Revolution

Thousands of Czechs protested for a fourth week in a row on Tuesday against a justice minister they fear could influence a criminal case against Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Protesters say Justice Minister Marie Benesova&#8217;s past comments and actions were supportive of Babis, a billionaire-turned-politician who has been charged with illegally tapping 2 million euros in European Union funds a decade ago when he was in business. He denies the charges.
As a member of parliament in 2017, Benesova was among a small group of lawmakers who did not support lifting Babis&#8217;s parliamentary immunity in the subsidy case. Earlier, in 2013, she served as justice minister in a caretaker government appointed by President Milos Zeman, an ally of Babis.
People gathered at Wenceslas Square in the centre of Prague, moving the protest to a larger space as the number of participants grew. Organisers estimated attendance at 50,000, surpassing the previous protests with around 20,000.
The crowd waved Czech and European Union flags and signs that read &#8220;You can&#8217;t break justice&#8221; or &#8220;I am ashamed of my prime minister&#8221;.
&#8220;If such people (as Babis) represent us, it is not good,&#8221; said Josef Hovorka, 34, an NGO employee.
&#8220;We could take inspiration from Austria, where politicians resigned for less,&#8221; he said, referring to a scandal that felled Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz&#8217;s coalition government at the weekend.
Despite the protests, Babis and his ANO party have not suffered any significant drop in support ahead of a European Parliament election this weekend, garnering around 30 percent in opinion polls.
Prosecutors, who can halt the case before it gets to court, have yet to decide on police recommendations delivered last month that Babis stand trial.
Benesova&#8217;s predecessor at the justice ministry resigned one day after the police wrapped up their investigation, sparking worries that political pressure might be involved.

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Thousands of Czechs protest for fourth week against justice minister

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday he would step down from a government council dealing with European Union subsidies to avert any suspicion of conflict of interest over funds for his former business group, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/czech-pm-to-avoid-conflict-of-interest-steps-down-from-govt-body/4704603.html">VOA news</a> reports.
The Agrofert group receives EU subsidies in a combination of non-discretionary direct payments for farming and for business, environmental and other projects. Babis put the group into trusts in 2017.
However, his critics say he is still in control as the trusts are managed by his wife and lawyers.
The European Parliament called on the European Commission on Thursday to suspend EU funding to Agrofert until a full investigation into the suspected conflict of interest had been carried out.
Gunther Oettinger, the EU commissioner for budget and human resources, sent a letter setting out options for Babis to avoid conflict of interests, one of which was to exclude himself from decisions affecting his business interests.
Babis, the second-richest Czech, said on Monday he would choose this option. The others were either for him to cut all ties to Agrofert or for subsidies to the group to be halted.
&#8220;We have agreed at the government today that I will resign from the Council for Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) &#8230; effective immediately,&#8221; Babis said after a regular government meeting.
He added he would also take no part in government decisions on EU funds.
&#8220;We are acting according to the points which the commissioner states as possibilities,&#8221; Babis told reporters. &#8220;Although we don&#8217;t agree (that there is a conflict of 
interest).&#8221;
Agrofert, the biggest private employer in the country, earned 4.8 billion crowns ($211 million) in profit in 2017. It said last week its Czech-based operations had received 10.24 billion crowns in subsidies in the period 2006-2017.
($1 = 22.7220 Czech crowns)