Greenpeace trolls Czech government with campaign billboard cover-up

The environmental NGO Greenpeace Czech Republic has come into the fray of the upcoming local elections with a trolling act of civil disobedience.

Earlier today, the green non-profit covered up an election billboard of Jan Hušbauer, the ruling ANO party's candidate for mayor of Prague, in the Kačerov district - replacing it with another mock-up banner featuring Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, Foreign Minister and Motorist chairman Petr Macinka and MP Filip Turek, who is also honorary president of the Motorists.

The poster was complemented with the caption: "Motorists are harming nature, don't be their puppet."

According to Greenpeace, the goal of the initiative was to draw attention to the damages brought by the Motorists since the anti-green party took over the Environment Ministry.

"At a time when we are facing increasing heat, drought and other impacts of climate change, we need a functional and professionally managed department [of the environment]," the organization said in a statement.

"The ministry should be led by people who prioritize environmental protection, understand current problems and have the expertise and ability to promote solutions that will improve the condition of our landscape, forests and rivers," said Miriam Macurová, head of Greenpeace's climate campaign.

Having entrusted the ministry to nominees from the Motorist party, "Prime Minister Andrej Babiš also bears responsibility for the current state of the ministry," the NGO continued.

The protagonists of the poster didn't take too kindly to the action, with PM Babiš lashing out against an "offensive poster" which, he argued, does nothing in the way of facilitating a constructive discussion and dialogue on the issue.

In his usual moderate tone, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka meanwhile described the environmental activists as a "group of religious fanatics", adding that "it is evident that the green jihadists from Greenpeace will stop at nothing, they do not respect laws or rules or any opinion other than their own."

Meanwhile, ANO's Prague mayor lead candidate Jan Hušbauer also commented: "Today, they cover you up with a poster. Tomorrow, they will ban you from parking, close the street and say that it is for your own good," he said in reference to the possibility that Prague would be ruled by the Green Party in cooperation with Praha Sobě - the two movements with the strongest focus on environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Transport infrastructure - along with housing and real estate - has been among the most hot-button topics of the campaign for the upcoming municipal elections, scheduled across the Czech Republic for October 9-10.