Czech opposition demands foreign minister’s resignation after security prank

A Czech foreign minister is under fire after activists staged an interview that placed fake weapons, a dummy bomb and hidden people in the room with him.

Petr Macinka, who also leads the right-wing Motorists party, said he had not fallen for the prank. He insisted he recognized the masked interviewer, whom he and the activist group Detektivni Parta identified as Vojtech Psenak, an activist posing as a journalist.

“It would take a blind and deaf person not to recognize Psenak,” Macinka wrote on Facebook. But video released by Detektivni Parta appeared to show otherwise. In one clip, Macinka said it was the first time he had been interviewed by someone whose face he could not see.

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It would take a blind and deaf person not to recognize Psenak.

The group said several people hid behind a curtain during the interview. It also accused Macinka of bypassing security procedures by asking his only bodyguard to leave before the room had been checked. The footage shows Macinka discussing fellow party members and billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

Detektivni Parta said it wanted to test Macinka’s awareness of security risks and cognitive abilities. Macinka said he had taken part in many similar interviews and always handled them in the same way, adding that a police officer had been present. Czech media reported that the police unit responsible for protecting senior officials was examining the incident. Opposition politician Martin Kupka called for Macinka to resign.

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I have taken part in many such interviews and I always approach them in the same way. The police officer was there with me, and the interview proceeded no differently from what I have experienced a thousand times before.