What Miloš All Said: Vulgar Interview by Czech President Appalls Public

Czech Radio (ČR) announced today that it will continue to broadcast the interview with President Miloš Zeman, despite the head of state having caused a storm of public criticism due to a series of vulgarities he uttered in it, reports the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

In his interview with ČR yesterday, President Zeman first said that the government had "f…ed up" one of the laws, then called the members of the Russian punk band "Pussy Riot" "whores…", translating the first word of the group's name as "c…t".

Zeman, however, indirectly called the members of "Pussy Riot" a vulgarity with a rhetorical twist, saying: "I wanted to say whores…, but I am not Schwarzenberg (Karel Schwarzenberg, former Czech Foreign Minister)".

The public reacted sharply to Zeman's vocabulary, and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka assessed that the head of state sets a very bad example for young people and that he "does not contribute to the reputation of the Czech Republic abroad".

The pro-Russian Zeman said in the interview that he wanted to impress the supporters of his rival Schwarzenberg, whom he defeated in the 2013 presidential elections, because he also has a habit of using similar language in his speeches. Zeman's spokesperson Jiří Ovčáček said that the president will not apologize for his words, because Zeman opened a debate that had not been raised before - whether it is acceptable to use words considered vulgar in politics.

Czech Radio spokesperson Jiří Hošna said that the radio will continue to broadcast this speech, but did not explain in which version - as it was broadcast live or an edited recording. After Zeman's speech, the complaints received due to it demand that the recording be broadcast only after 10 PM and that it carry a warning that it is not suitable for children and young people.
The Czech portal idnes.cz opened a poll with the question: "Does it bother you when the head of state uses vulgar words?", to which, so far, 28,699 people have answered "yes", and only 2,590 "no".