Motorists for Themselves

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Motorists for Themselves
Motoristé sobě
AbbreviationAUTO
LeaderPetr Macinka[1]
PresidentFilip Turek (honorary)[2]
Deputy LeadersRenáta Maršíková
Jiří Barták
Founded2022
Preceded byIndependence Party of the Czech Republic
Youth wingMotor Generation[3]
Membership (2024)1,415[4]
IdeologyRight-wing populism[5]
National conservatism[6]
Anti-environmentalism[7]
Euroscepticism[8]
Klausism[9]
Political positionRight-wing[13] to far-right[14]
National affiliationPřísaha and Motorists (2024–2025)
European affiliationPatriots.eu
European Parliament groupPatriots for Europe
Colors  Light blue
Chamber of Deputies
13 / 200
Senate
0 / 81
European Parliament
1 / 21
Prague City Assembly
0 / 65
Website
motoristesobe.cz

Motorists for Themselves (Czech: Motoristé sobě, abbreviation AUTO) is a right-wing political party in the Czech Republic seeking to represent motorists' interests by primarily focusing on the issues of car ownership, opposition to combustion engine phase-out across the European Union, and anti-environmentalism.

Initially formed as a party aimed at declaring a nationwide referendum on the membership of the Czech Republic in the European Union, it was transformed under Petr Macinka, a spokesperson of the Václav Klaus Institute, for the 2022 Prague municipal election.[15] The party gained one MEP in the 2024 European Parliament election, and then finished sixth in the 2025 Czech parliamentary election, passing the threshold to enter parliament.

Ideology and positions

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The party opposes green politics, liberalism, and progressivism and wants to abolish all bicycle lanes.[7] It has stated its support for "cars, coal and the Czech crown".[7] Later, the party also proclaimed its opposition to the European Union, adoption of the Euro and the European Green Deal, while voicing its support for a free market, coal and a nuclear-based energy strategy.[16]

History

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2022 Prague municipal election

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The party ran in the 2022 Czech municipal elections in Prague, claiming opposition to parties such as the Pirates and Prague Together. Motorists promised making the Prague Metro free of charge,[17] greatly reducing the number of bike lanes and reducing the funding of culture, investing the funds into transport infrastructure instead.[18][19] Macinka accused the Pirate-led coalition in the city of bullying of drivers and called them "green fanatics".[20]

Motorists gained 540,209 votes, reaching 2.29% of the total, thus missing the 5% electoral threshold and winning zero seats in the Prague City Assembly.[21]

Filip Turek controversy

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Filip Turek, who led the party’s list in the 2024 European Parliament election and later was appointed honorary president of Motorists for Themselves,[2] wore a golden helmet with the symbol used by the former Greek far-right neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, one where he appeared to give a Nazi salute from a car, and one featuring a candlestick with a swastika. In a discussion on CNN Prima News, Turek stated that he was a collector and also had a knife used by SS soldiers, but denied that he was a Nazi sympathizer. Czech police opened an investigation into his nazi salute gestures,[22] which was concluded in November 2024 due to the statute-barred case.[23]

In 2017, Turek threatened an employee of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Prague. In the shared garages, he placed a picture of a gallows behind the windshield wiper of the employee's car, and a large hunting cartridge was found on the roof of the car. According to Turek, he wanted to protect his girlfriend, after someone from a similar car had previously shouted something unintelligible at her. Czech police closed the investigation as a minor offense.[24]

In October 2025, an archive of later-deleted Facebook posts and comments by Turek was published, in which he repeatedly made openly racist, sexist, or homophobic statements, as well as numerous allusions to Hitler and Benito Mussolini.[25][26] Some of his racist remarks targeted former American president Barack Obama and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.[27] In his posts, he expressed the wish to send his opponents (including politicians, students, and Petr Kellner) to gas chambers, threatened them with physical violence, and described them using vulgar terms.[28][29] Macinka expressed his full support for Turek, who denied authorship of the posts and described the case as a deliberate attempt to discredit him.[26][30] Macinka announced that the party would file a criminal complaint against Denník N and the authors of the article.[31]

2024 European Parliament election

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For the 2024 European Parliament election, the party was firstly considering a joint electoral list together with Svobodní.[32] However, the party later announced a coalition with the Přísaha movement, with their joint list being led by Filip Turek.[33][34] The coalition wants to reverse the European Green Deal and the ban on sale of petrol and diesel cars starting from 2035. It also claims to stand against illegal immigration and the adoption of euro as the Czech Republic's national currency.[35]

2025 Czech parliamentary election

[edit]

At the beginning of 2025, the party announced that it would contest the 2025 Czech parliamentary election independently, after a membership vote favored that option. Party leader Macinka welcomed the decision, claiming it would allow the party to maintain "ideological purity". However, the party did not rule out offering places on its lists to members of other parties, such as Svobodní, and said it wanted to continue cooperating with Robert Šlachta of Přísaha.[36] At the same time, the Motorists began to cross the 5% electoral threshold in some opinion polls.[37]

The party said its goal for the election was to overtake the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in number of seats. Party officials expressed negative views towards a possible coalition with ODS, rather favouring the possibility of forming a government with the right-wing populist ANO. However, Macinka rejected the possibility of any cooperation with the Stačilo! alliance.[38][16]

Motor Generation

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In July 2024, the party established a youth wing, Motor Generation, under the leadership of former Svobodní member and Ostrava-Vítkovice councillor Matěj Gregor. Gregor claimed that the purpose of the organization is to offer a right-wing political alternative for young people and provide a voice for conservative youth, as well as bringing "order and discipline" into members' lives.[6]

However, a controversy erupted shortly after the organization's foundation, as it set up a photo booth at its inaugural congress featuring cards with the quotes "I have an SS dagger at home", "Certified racist", and "Congress 9.11.", with an image of a plane and the Twin Towers.[39]

Respekt also reported that Gregor was planning on creating a network of Motor Generation clubs at Czech universities under the disguise of "conservative clubs", as it is illegal to create partisan organizations in universities under Czech law. In an internal memo, Gregor allegedly said that the clubs would "create hell" for progressives in the academic field and would make them "whine and scream". Gregor later confirmed the authenticity of the memo, but called it "twisted" by the media. He also denied comparisons made between the organization and Hitlerjugend, or the youth organizations of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[6][40][41]

Election results

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Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

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Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats ± Place Government
2025 Filip Turek 380,601 6.77
13 / 200
 New 6th TBA

Senate

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Election Candidates First round Second round Seats Total Seats +/–
Votes % Runners-up Place Votes % Place
2024 1 7,664 0.97
0 / 27
 14th —
0 / 27
0 / 81
 New

European Parliament

[edit]
Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2024[a] Filip Turek 304,623 10.26 (#3)
(Přísaha and Motorists)
1 / 21
 New Patriots for Europe

Prague municipal elections

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Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats Place
2022 Petr Macinka 540,209 2.29%
0 / 65
 7th

Notes

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  1. ^ Ran as part of the Přísaha and Motorists coalition.

References

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  1. ^ Perknerová, Kateřina (12 January 2025). "Budujeme alternativu proti Fialově ODS, říká Petr Macinka". Deník (in Czech). Vltava Labe Media. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  2. ^ a b Kučerová, Barbora (10 December 2024). "Hitler s tebou? Tak si v Motoristech neříkáme, tvrdí jejich předseda". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  3. ^ Oppelt, Robert (10 November 2024). "Utahování si z Nerudové a hvězda Turek. Vznikl Motorgen, Motoristé pro mladé". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  4. ^ Vachtl, Jiří (7 December 2024). "Motoristé představili své desatero i cíle. Chceme porazit ODS, řekl Macinka". iDNES.cz. Mafra.
  5. ^ "New polls show growing support for Czechia's populist Motorists party". Euractiv. 13 November 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Štorkán, Martin; Svobodová, Ivana (8 December 2024). "Budou kňučet, budou ječet! Ale vy budete mučedníci". Respekt (in Czech).
  7. ^ a b c Eisenchteter, Jules (19 December 2024). "Need for Speed: Czech Motorist Party Shifts into High Gear with Eyes on 2025 Election". Balkan Insight. Prague. Retrieved 23 December 2024. ... coming about six months after a conservative and Eurosceptic Motorists-Prisaha coalition created a shock ...
  8. ^ a b "Czechia". Europe Elects. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  9. ^ Kroc, Vladimír (20 July 2025). "Motoristé by rádi navázali na spolupráci s Přísahou. ‚Šlachta pro to nemá motivaci,' míní politolog Cabada". iROZHLAS (in Czech). Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Czech Republic: Political parties at a glance". PolitPro.
  11. ^ "Andrej Babiš' ANO movement wins Czech parliamentary elections". Euronews. 4 October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  12. ^ Jochecová, Ketrin (6 October 2025). "Czech president hints right-wing populist Babiš will become PM". Politico. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  13. ^ [8][10][11][12]
  14. ^ Zachová, Aneta (23 April 2025). "Czech MEP under police investigation after posting speeding photo". Euractiv. Prague. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Do voleb v Praze chce jít nová politická strana Motoristé sobě". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 28 May 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Auto není nepřítel, shodli se Motoristé, pustili si Landu a chtějí porazit ODS". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). 7 December 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  17. ^ Martinek, Jan (9 August 2022). "Strana Motoristé sobě chce v Praze metro zdarma". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  18. ^ Vachtl, Jiří (10 August 2022). "Motoristé sobě i Praha bez chaosu. Strany sází na boj proti "cyklofanatikům"". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Václav Klaus mi řekl, ať to nepokazím, říká zakladatel nové strany Motoristé sobě". Lidové noviny (in Czech). Mafra. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  20. ^ Veselý, Marek (8 September 2022). "Macinka: Piráti v Praze razí zelený fanatismus a chtějí nás vychovávat. Šikanují řidiče". CNN Prima News (in Czech). Prima F.T.V. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Výsledky voleb" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  22. ^ Menšík, Jan; Machová, Martina (6 June 2024). "Turkovu fascinaci nacismem zkoumá policie, strana ho stáhla z předvolebních debat". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  23. ^ Mubeenová, Alžběta (8 November 2024). "Policie odložila případ údajného hajlování europoslance Turka" [Police postpone case of alleged MEP Turek nazi saluting]. ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
  24. ^ Kubant, Vít (15 October 2025). "'Nakreslil jsem šibenici, aby to pochopil.' Turek před 8 lety vyhrožoval zaměstnanci saúdskoarabské ambasády" ['I drew a gallows so he would understand.' Turek threatened Saudi embassy employee 8 years ago] (in Czech). Czech Radio. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  25. ^ Pokorná, Zdislava; Švec, Michael (10 October 2025). ""Popálit cikáně je polehčující okolnost, Obama je negr." Odhalujeme smazaný svět Filipa Turka" ["Burning a gypsy is an extenuating circumstance, Obama is a nigger." We reveal the erased world of Filip Turek]. Denník N (in Czech). N media. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  26. ^ a b Noska, Daniel (11 October 2025). "Je to závažné, reaguje Babiš na kauzu smazaných Turkových příspěvků. Plánuje schůzku s Motoristy" [It's serious, Babiš responds to the case of Turek's deleted posts. He plans a meeting with Motoristy]. Czech Radio (in Czech). Czech News Agency. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  27. ^ "Brutally racist statements by a potential new Czech Foreign Secretary: "Burning a gypsy child is a mitigating circumstance. Obama is a nigger."". Britské listy. 10 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  28. ^ Staněk, Luděk (2 June 2024). Filip Turek se nechal vlákat do sítí Jany Bobošíkové. Koho posílal do plynu a další šílené výplody [Filip Turek was lured into Jana Bobošíková's net. Who was he sending to the gas and other crazy things]. Stream.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  29. ^ Pokorná, Zdislava (13 October 2025). "„Do pece s takovými studenty." Turek dál maže nenávistné příspěvky – a stále nedůsledně" ["To furnace with such students." Turek continues to delete hateful posts – and still inconsistently]. Denník N (in Czech). N media. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  30. ^ Linhart, Tomáš (10 October 2025). "Trváme na nominaci Filipa Turka, jinak ve vládě nebudeme, vzkázal šéf Motoristů Macinka" [We insist on the nomination of Filip Turek, otherwise we will not be in the government, said the leader of Motorists Macinka]. Denník N (in Czech). N media. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  31. ^ Václavíková, Jana (12 October 2025). "Motoristé podají trestní oznámení na Deník N, řekl Macinka. Vadí jim článek o Turkových příspěvcích" [Motorists will file a criminal complaint against Deník N, said Macinka. They are bothered by the article about Turek's contributions]. Czech Radio (in Czech). Czech News Agency. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  32. ^ "Svobodní jednali o kandidátce do EP, jednají se stranou Motoristé sobě". Svobodní (in Czech). 11 November 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  33. ^ "Přísaha míří k evropským volbám s Motoristy, Šlachta má zálusk na křeslo v Senátu". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 29 January 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  34. ^ Martinek, Jan (29 January 2024). "Šlachtova Přísaha půjde do eurovoleb společně s Motoristy sobě". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  35. ^ Zykmundová, Barbora (10 June 2024). "Ve volbách zazářila koalice, která ani neměla program. Co chtějí Přísaha a Motoristé?". CNN Prima News (in Czech). FTV Prima. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  36. ^ "Motoristé vyloučili možnost předvolební koalice. Do Sněmovny budou kandidovat samostatně". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 11 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  37. ^ "STEM: V lednu by volby vyhrálo ANO. Do Sněmovny by se dostalo šest subjektů včetně Motoristů a SPD". Czech Radio (in Czech). 12 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  38. ^ "Šéf Motoristů Macinka: Konečná je můj nejoblíbenější levičák". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  39. ^ "Mám doma dýku SS, fotili se mladí Motoristé. Jen humor, říká jejich šéf". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  40. ^ "Lídr mladých Motoristů: Přirovnávání k Hitlerjugend mě štve". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). 11 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  41. ^ "Vycházející hvězda Motoristů Gregor: O spolupráci s hnutím ANO nemůžeme lhát". Seznam Zprávy (in Czech). 8 January 2025. Retrieved 16 January 2025.