Hailing from a rural town in the United Kingdom, William Nattrass moved to Prague three years ago to follow his Czech college girlfriend. He worked several jobs before COVID hit. However, after observing the differences in the UK’s and Czechia’s handling of the pandemic, Nattrass decided to launch a writing career because of his interest in European politics.
In a short time, he’s become an accomplished journalist with bylines in a range of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, The Spectator, and the Washington Post. In Prague, he also works for expats.cz, one of the most popular English-based news sites. He hopes to eventually perfect his Czech well enough to write for Czech-based publications. Nattrass shared his perspective on writing articles for a US and UK audience on the many political issues of the region, especially as Czechia has opened its borders to Ukrainian refugees.
As an expat journalist, you became successful relatively fast. How did that happen?
I can’t pretend that I wasn’t in the right place at the right time if I wanted to actually start on this journalism thing. Obviously COVID was a situation where everybody was interested in what everybody else was doing. There was this natural demand for foreign reporting, everyone wanted to know any differences in how other people were responding to it. Then the Ukraine war has made Eastern Europe one of the most important regions in the world. At this particular time as a journalist here it’s been very busy, but in a good way.
What’s been your experience covering the Ukrainian refugees?
There were hundreds of Roman refugees from Ukraine, having to sleep in the station because of administrative difficulties. The refugee crisis brought home the reality of the situation. I think the situation with the refugee crisis mirrors the situation with the war. I was talking to someone from the interior ministry: if the situation in their area in Ukraine is quieting down, they can go back and check on their stuff. Then if it gets bad again, they can come back because they have their temporary visa.
Even just the presence of the refugees illustrates the actual story of what’s going on in Ukraine, which is quite interesting because as things change, the movements of the refugees and Europe changes. I have to be delicate in how you think about this interaction between the people and popular perceptions and the government actions, especially here in Central Europe. I saw a survey the other day, claiming that over half of Slovaks want Russia to win. So how do you treat some data like that? As a journalist, you have to be very careful.
How does Prague’s political climate influence your writing?
If I go outside Prague I’m always struck by how different Prague is to the rest of the country. There’s a lot of mistrust that people have of the media outside these major cities. And people feel like they’re from a different world, almost, if they’re not from Prague, or Bratislava or London. I come from that; I’m definitely influenced by that environment. The difference between cities and rural areas politically is so consistent. People in the rural areas are slightly conservative and more skeptical about media narratives around COVID and Ukraine. At the same time, you get people in Prague who feel the same way and you get people obviously in those areas who feel the opposite way. It’s not an absolute distinction but those are the main differences and I do think you see them.
How has your view on international relations changed since moving to Prague?
I come from the UK, you come from the US, two countries which drive international affairs. I’m writing about how these smaller countries act within all the major currents that are going on. Living in Prague and living in the Czech Republic, you realize how fundamental the EU has become to this country: concerts in Prague celebrating this relationship between the Czech Republic and the European Union, things that you obviously don’t really think about and in the UK. I always felt like it was more of a kind of uneasy marriage. I think because of the geographical location, right at the heart of Europe, and the historical context of the shifting boundaries of Europe over hundreds of years, the European Union is a logical thing for this region, and you realize living here. Now, it’s seen that way but not by everybody and there are lots of people who are against it.