Russia may be behind the arson attack on city buses in Prague last week, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said today.

Police said they arrested a 26-year-old man on Saturday in connection with the failed arson attempt and charged him with terrorism.

“There are suspicions that the attack was organized and possibly financed by Russia,” Fiala told a news conference.

“It is part of a hybrid war being waged against us by Russia, which we must defend against and which we must stop. Russia is repeatedly trying to sow unrest, to undermine citizens’ trust in our state.”

The Russian embassy in Prague had no immediate comment.

The Czech Republic is a member of NATO and a strong supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders.

Police had said the man arrested was a Spanish-speaking man from South America. He said he had been in the Czech Republic for five days before attempting to set fire to city buses on Wednesday night. He was unable to carry out his plan due to the vigilance of staff at the Prague depot, police said.

Poland, another NATO member, has accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country, including through sabotage and arson, because of its role in providing military aid to neighboring Ukraine. Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Last month, Poland’s Internal Security Service announced that it had arrested a Pole and two Belarusian citizens on suspicion of arson at facilities in various locations across the country. Others were also arrested for acts of sabotage that Polish officials said were carried out on orders from Russian intelligence.

The Czech Republic has accused Russia of causing a series of unexplained explosions at an ammunition depot in 2014, expelling dozens of Russian diplomats after evidence of the 2021 incident came to light.

Concern over the rise of extremist parties across Europe

Commenting on the results of the European elections, Czech President Petr Pavel did not hide his concern about the rise of parties that were on the fringes of the political spectrum in several European countries.

“What we cannot ignore is the increased support for extremists across Europe,” the retired general wrote in a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), stressing that “we must recognize these voices and reflect on why this is happening (the phenomenon)”. Pavel did not name specific parties.

In France, the “National Alarm” (RN) was the triumph of the European elections, securing a percentage of 31.36% according to the results so far.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded its best performance at the federal level (15.9%) and emerged as the second strongest party.

In the Czech Republic, the “Přísaha a Motoristé” (“Oath and Motorists”) alliance of two right-wing protest parties elected two MEPs, while the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party secured its representation in the European Parliament. The first place in the European elections was won by the populist ANO party of the billionaire former prime minister Andrei Babis, which will be represented by 7 MEPs.