About 70,000 people protested in Prague on Saturday against the Czech government, calling on the ruling coalition to take measures to control rising energy prices and expressing opposition to the European Union and NATO, AFP reported.

The organizers of the demonstration, members of some radical political forces – both far-right and the Communist Party – say that the Czech Republic, the country that currently holds the presidency of the EU Council for six months, should be neutral from a military point of view and secure direct contracts with gas suppliers, including Russia .

The police estimated the number of protesters in the afternoon at 70,000.

“The purpose of our demonstration is to demand changes, especially to solve the problem of energy prices, especially electricity and gas, which will destroy our economy this fall,” said one of the organizers of the event, Jiří Havel, as quoted by iDNES.cz.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: The protest was organized by pro-Russian political forces

The demonstration in Wenceslas Square, located in the center of the city, comes a day after the government withstood a vote of no confidence, in the context of which the opposition blames the lack of measures against rising inflation and energy prices.

The no-confidence vote showed how Europe’s energy crisis is fueling political instability as rising energy prices add to inflation, already at a three-decade high.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who heads a center-right coalition of five parties, told the CTK news agency on Saturday that the protesters did not care about the country’s interests.

“The protest action on Wenceslas Square was organized by pro-Russian political forces that are close to extreme positions and are against the interests of the Czech Republic,” he said. (Source: Agerpres)