Pensions and Protests in Central Europe: Different Strokes for Different Folks

But changes to pensions inevitably create fear and loathing, while any positive impacts won't be seen for years. It's little wonder then that, with so many Czech governments having led a precarious existence, little progress has been made over the decades.

Having spent weeks thrashing out plans, the five-party Czech coalition government announced in early May a plan to reform the system, alongside an associated austerity drive aimed at slashing the budget deficit by 150 billion koruna (6 billion euros) by 2025.

The proposals - which must run the legislative route of parliament and the president - would gradually raise the retirement age to 68, reduce indexation levels, and raise premiums for some, in a bid to start lowering the annual shortfall, which is set to hit 80 billion koruna this year.

"It's good that this government reached into the hornet's nest," Professor Martin Potucek from Charles University told Seznam Zpravy. However, he also warned that the measures were somewhat unimaginative, late and unfair, and asserted they should have been discussed with social stakeholders before they were announced.

Once they were unveiled, fury predictably erupted from certain sections of society. The country's biggest union quickly issued a strike alert; opposition parties promised to try to block the reforms in parliament.

It's now expected that the series of anti-government populist protests since the energy crunch and cost-of-living crisis hit last autumn will grow, just as they did in April after the government forced a one-off reduction in the indexation of pensions for this year, despite inflation continuing to run at over 15 per cent, through parliament.

"These protests, largely organised by interest groups from outside...