In 2028, Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová of the ANO movement will mark thirty years in politics. She began in local government, gradually rose to the Chamber of Deputies, became a regional governor, and in 2024 was elected to the European Parliament. Ahead of the upcoming Czech elections, she serves as ANO’s shadow minister of culture.
You attend ANO’s campaign rallies. What priorities are coming to the forefront from your encounters with voters?
Naturally, it’s the issues that trouble people most – energy prices, which are among the highest in the EU, housing, investment in health care, security, and so on. There are many topics. Unfortunately, the coalition of five either didn’t address many problems at all, or only superficially, just for show. The outgoing government made life harder for people, and our program is focused on improving people’s lives again. As shadow culture minister, I naturally see priorities in this area. Culture is generally underfunded. The current government failed to deliver on its promise. It pledged that 1 percent of the state budget would go to culture. When it took office in 2021, the share was 0.83 percent; today it’s about 0.76 percent. So it has actually moved even further away from its target. At the same time, we need to financially motivate dedicated experts who, due to low pay, are leaving cultural institutions for other fields. I also see the need to support regional culture more strongly.
You recently said of the current prime minister that “Petr Fiala serves the green fanatics.” Could you please be more specific?
A number of “green” regulations put forward by the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, threaten the competitiveness of European countries and Europe as a whole. Many companies are already on the verge of economic difficulties, trying to comply with EU legislation while unable to compete with Asian countries, which disregard such rules and expand their production at Europe’s expense. Of course, we must live in a way that allows us to hand the planet over to future generations – but this cannot be done thoughtlessly or fanatically. Fiala’s government actively contributed to what we criticize the most and what harms Europe the most. Remember, during the Czech EU presidency, Ursula von der Leyen praised Petr Fiala for pushing through Fit for 55 and ETS 2. Environmental measures must be introduced sensibly, so they do not destroy the European economy or have a drastic social impact on Europeans.
How big a problem will emission allowances be for households and businesses, and how would ANO approach them if it formed the next government?
The European emissions trading system for households – ETS 2 – is exactly the kind of measure that will have a drastic impact on both citizens and businesses. Just the price of petrol and diesel will likely rise by about seven crowns per liter. That will make transport more expensive, and since almost everything today is transported by road, it will drive up the cost of everything. It will also hit poorer households, which cannot quickly switch to ecological heating. These households will pay emission allowances, only to receive the money back in social benefits. The approval process for ETS 2 is already advanced, but we can still act. If several countries with similar problems regarding household and business allowances join forces, it becomes a matter of negotiation. If we enter government, we will do everything in our power to have ETS 2, in its current form, abolished.
Speaking of the next government – ANO has declared it will not form a coalition with any of the governing parties. Does that mean all other parties remain on the table?
Honestly, coalitions are built after elections, based on actual results and options. These declarations go both ways – the leaders of the current “governing five” recently clinked beer glasses in a pub to confirm they won’t govern with ANO. We want to achieve such a result that we can form a single-party government. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll negotiate with other parties to fulfill as much of our program as possible. It’s not yet clear whether, for example, the Motorists will make it into parliament. Many options remain open.
You joined ANO in 2012 after eight years in ODS. What led to the change?
At the time, ODS was riddled with clientelism and personal conflicts. ANO was a new political project that sought to change this – to bring fresh air and replace the entrenched structures built up since the 1990s. For people unhappy with the country’s direction, it was, and still is, a hope for change.
ANO co-founded the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament. A year is not long, but how are the Patriots doing in advancing goals such as combating illegal migration, increasing member state sovereignty, and others?
As soon as the Patriots for Europe group was formed, many other groups closed ranks and created what’s known as a cordon sanitaire. It was an attempt to isolate us and refuse dialogue. But we have a mandate from voters and significant support – we cannot be ignored. We are currently the third-largest group in the European Parliament. The situation is slowly improving, and many of the issues we push for have already gained support from other MEPs. We are very active and submit numerous amendments. Often, these are incorporated into final documents without anyone acknowledging they are originally our proposals. But what matters is the outcome. We are fighting for citizens’ interests and for the sovereignty of member states.
CV BOX
Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (born August 17, 1970, in Karlovy Vary) is a member of the European Parliament for ANO 2011.
She studied business and economics at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Agriculture in Prague. She worked for several different companies and was also involved in the Union of Towns and Municipalities.
She entered politics when she got elected as an independent candidate in the 1998 municipal election for the municipal council of Krhanice in the Benešov region, where she went on to become mayor. She joined ODS in 2004, became a member of the Central Bohemian Regional Assembly, and unsuccessfully attempted to attain a seat in the Chamber on the party’s ticket in 2011.
She joined ANO in 2011 and became an MP and first deputy speaker of the Chamber two years later. She had held this position until 2017 and has managed to once again fight her way into the Chamber in 2021. She was the governor of the Central Bohemian Region between the years 2016 and 2020.
She is married and has a son, Michal, and daughter, Emma.
reklama
