Shadow finance minister from the ANO movement Alena Schillerová is a regular figure in our magazine. Originally, we planned to talk about the upcoming election battle, but then the bitcoin scandal broke out and brought other, older cases back into the spotlight.
What is your view on the bitcoin case? Was it resolved by the resignation of Minister Pavel Blažek?
I consider it the biggest political scandal in the modern history of the Czech Republic – it even spread beyond our borders. What troubles me immensely is that major foreign media aren’t writing about the scandal of just one minister, but about the scandal of the Czech government as a whole. It casts a very bad light on us. Honestly, you can’t blame them – because this truly is a scandal of the entire Fiala government, and it certainly did not end with Minister Blažek’s resignation.
Recently, the governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region publicly stated that the government borrowed tens of billions to help people after last year’s floods, but handed out only four billion…
This is another scandal – sadly, no longer surprising under the current finance minister, Zbyněk Stanjura. Budgetary tricks have become a routine part of his work. There are no real savings, just tinkering with the state budget, which we repeatedly criticize – not just us, but also the independent National Budget Council. And it was precisely the Council that found that the vast majority of the funds by which last year’s deficit was increased through a budget amendment – thanks in part to ANO’s cooperative approach – were not actually used for flood relief. Specifically, out of the thirty billion crowns additionally allocated to last year’s government budget reserve, only about four billion were spent on dealing with the aftermath of the floods and property restoration – roughly a tenth. And worse, the government took fourteen billion and secretly used it for something else entirely. I consider this not just an insult to the flood victims, but also to Parliament and to the public. This is exactly what I strongly warned the government about when approving the budget amendment: the so-called flood amendment to the state budget became a fix for obvious shortcomings and serious discrepancies in the 2024 state budget.
Why is ANO preparing to file a criminal complaint over purchases at the Ministry of Defense?
There is an enormous number of very questionable purchases – and even worse, a complete departure from transparent spending. Under the current leadership, the Ministry of Defense systematically fails to publish contracts in the contract register and spends billions on vague purchases it refuses to explain. No one is asking the minister for sensitive security information, but this practice is simply unacceptable. A separate issue is the apparently hugely overpriced purchases, often from shady companies connected to former ODS bigwigs. Probably no one missed the scandal with the field kitchens – which the Ministry paid a king’s ransom for but, as journalists found out, still hasn’t physically received.
Let’s talk about elections. Sociologist Petr Hampl recently said, “Elections exist in principle to confirm the ruling power.” Do you agree?
I absolutely disagree. Elections are still the strongest tool that citizens have to decide their country’s future. That’s precisely why we’re here – to offer an alternative to a government that has lost touch with reality, failed in economic management, and now has allowed organised crime to reach the highest levels of politics. If people want change, they must show up to vote. Every vote will count.
Do you often travel to meet with people?
I try to stay in contact with people long-term, not just during campaign season. Meetings with citizens – whether in a restaurant, a community centre, or various social events – give my work meaning. I get feedback, but I also hear valuable ideas and suggestions, often straight from the source – without the filter of newspapers, websites, or TV reporters. Election season only differs in that you might see some reporters at these meetings, or people who normally wouldn’t come. But that doesn’t bother me; I’m happy to listen to more critical voices. Our events are open to everyone.
What is most important for citizens?
The second most valuable thing in a person’s life is freedom of speech; the most valuable is sustenance, and in third place is a roof over one’s head. Do you know who said that? The legendary Rowan Atkinson – Mr. Bean himself. With his wonderful British grace, he summed up what human dignity stands on. There’s a lot of realism in that. What good is freedom of speech if you’re starving? What good is a roof over your head if you fear someone will come knocking on your door because of your opinions? These three pillars must work, or people lose hope. And that’s exactly what’s happening in the Czech Republic – it troubles people deeply. It’s shocking how many families today count every penny just to get by. And it’s no longer just low-income households.
Is ANO willing to engage even with voters who disagree with you?
It might surprise you, but I truly value factual debates with people who disagree with us. It’s perfectly fine for people to have different views on tax policy, pensions, education, or healthcare. Then there are opponents who confront us with outrageous nonsense spread by SPOLU coalition politicians – like that we don’t care about defence or that we’ll drag the Czech Republic to the East. I ask them where they were when we held power until 2021 – because we doubled defense spending and our orientation was always clearly pro-Western.
The summer holidays are here. Will they be all about the elections, or will you find time for yourself too?
This summer holiday will be mainly about work because the autumn elections are approaching and the campaign is in full swing. I have lots of trips around the regions ahead of me, discussions with citizens, and meetings about our program priorities. But I do hope to carve out at least one week for moments with my family – especially my children and grandchildren, whom I love more than anything in the world.
CV BOX
Alena Schillerová (born March 18, 1964, in Brno) is an MP for the ANO 2011 movement and former minister of finance.
She obtained a law degree from the Masaryk University in Brno. She went on to work at the Brno-Country Financial Office, later becoming the director.
She was the special deputy minister of finance for taxation and tariffs, starting in 2016. In 2017, she was appointed minister of finance, which was a position she held until last year's election, since which she has been an MP. She is also the vice-chair of the ANO 2011 movement as of this February.
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