Zdenek Hrib may be the most famous Pirate Party politician in Europe. The mayor of Prague symbolises the Pirates’ transformation from a collection of activist nerds campaigning for looser copyright laws and internet freedom, to a modernising political force with a broad platform, only some of which is concerned with computers. In some polls, the Pirates now come second in the Czech Republic and the party could well play a king-maker role after the next elections in 2021.
In no small part, the rise of the Czech Pirates is due to Hrib himself, who took office two years ago. During his time in city hall, he has firmly positioned himself within a long lineage of humanist Czech politicians dating back to Václav Havel, the former dissident and the first president of the Czech Republic. He has taken a hard stance against the communist legacy in Prague – removing a statue to a Soviet general partially responsible for the crackdown against the 1968 Prague Spring – and become a vocal advocate for Tibetan and Taiwanese rights, much to the irritation of Chinese officials. “The role of the politician in Czech Republic is also to be a history teacher,” he says of his decision to challenge the communist-era narrative of the postwar period.
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