In the company of prime ministers of Hungary and Slovakia, Viktor Orban and Robert Fitzo, a new comrade may appear. The same populist and pragmatist, EuroSrkeptic and politician, ready to dispute the European Union to support Kyiv and strengthen the pro -Russian wing inside the EU. We are talking about the leader of the Czech populist party Ano (“Yes”), the sympathy of Donald Trump and the billionaire Andrei Babish.
As predicted, at the election in the lower ward of the Czech Parliament held last week, ANO won: 34.51% of voters voted for it. 23.36% of the Czechs voted for the ruling liberal-conservative block Spolu (" The Center Party of Stan (“Starsts and Independent”) received 11.23%, and the pro -European Pirate Party - 8.97%. SPD (“Freedom and Direct Democracy”) voted 7.78%for the law -Popopulistic, anti -immigrant party, and 6.77%for the right, Euro -digital party Motoriste Sobe (“Motorists for themselves”).
Levopopulistic movement Stac did not pass to the parliament? ILO! (\! " And this is good news for Ukraine, since the movement, uniting several left -wing parties, promotes the pro -Russian agenda. For example, the face of Stac? ILO! The Euro -deputy and head of the Communist Party of the Czech Republic and Moravia (CPCM) Katerezhina finishes the responsibility for the war in Ukraine to the West, accusing him of provoking Russia. She calls NATO a “aggressive block”, and the appearance of Russian drones in Europe, according to her, is not a serious threat.
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In the victory, ANO played a role not only a competently built election campaign. In recent years, the Czech economy has experienced a number of problems, including strong inflation, which led to a fall in the standard of living and an increase in poverty. And although now the country's economy is slowly recovering, the popularity of the violation of Fiala has fallen. ANO promised to complete the regime of rigid economy, stimulate economics growth, increase wages, increase pensions, reduce taxes, limit energy prices.
The most likely candidate for the post of Prime Minister is billionaire Andrei Babish, who was already headed by the government in 2017–2021. His premiership was accompanied by scandals related to accusations of a conflict of interests and fraud with EU subsidies: ANO leader owns the giant Agrofert holding - the largest private recipient of state subsidies in the Czech Republic. President Peter Pavel has already stated that he expects a solution to the problem of conflict of interest from Babish.
Although ANO took first place, the number of mandates is not enough for Babish to independently form an office. This requires 101 mandates, and ANO has only 80 seats. Although nothing can be excluded, it is unlikely that ANO and Spolu will create a coalition: FIALA previously rejected this possibility. Babish, which remains of the action of actions, was no less categorical - either to create a minority government, or to form a coalition with smaller partners. He decided to go the second way.
As Andrei Babish said after the end of the vote, Ano intends to enter into negotiations on the formation of a new cabinet with SPD (15 mandates), as well as with the Motoriste party (13 deputies).
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Both parties are Euroskepic. But SPD also promotes pro -Russian and anti -Ukrainian narratives. For example, in March 2023, SPD deputies voted against the resolution of the parliament that confirmed the support of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. The leader SPD Tomio Okamura back in 2022 said that the supply of weapons to Ukraine extend the war and harms the Czech Republic. Like Stacilo! , SPD claims that the country should leave NATO and EU.
And not so long ago, Okamur said that the condition for the potential entry into the coalition will be included in the government program of the paragraph on the revision of permits for residence of all Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. In accordance with his plans, in the country it should be allowed to remain only to those Ukrainians who " “This is not about hatred, but I am a Czech politician, and I am on the side of Czech citizens,” SPD leader justified his position.
Meanwhile, as of September, 393.8 thousand Ukrainians lived in the Czech Republic with temporary protection status. Of these, about 93 thousand are children and adolescents under the age of 18, and about 17.7 thousand people are over 65 years old. According to the Minister of Labor Marian Yurechki, 169 thousand citizens of Ukraine with temporary protection status work in the Czech Republic. At the same time, according to the Security and Information Service (BIS), Ukrainians who moved to the Czech Republic after February 2022 invested more in the Czech economy than they received financial assistance and social payments: the presence of Ukrainian refugees annually contributes to the growth of Czech Republic by 1.2%.
So, in the first half of 2025, Ukrainian refugees brought 15 billion Croons (616 million euros) in the form of contributions and taxes to the Czech Republic budget. State subsidies for humanitarian assistance, accommodation, healthcare, education and other types of refugee support were half as much - 7.6 billion kroons (312 million euros). The implementation of the initiative of Okamura can lead to the departure of Ukrainians to other countries, which will lead to a lack of workers in industry and the service sector. As a result, this will hit the Czech economy.
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It is not surprising that Russia, interested in the permanent crisis inside the EU, tried to play along with SPD. A few days before the vote, the Czech Center for Research of Online Riski revealed about 300 fake accounts related to the Russian Federation in Tiktok, which distributed pro-Russian content directed against the EU or NATO, justified Russia's invasion of Ukraine and popularized SPD and Stacilo! The Czech authorities are convinced that a network of accounts is part of a certain factory of trolls related to Russia.
If SPD is ready for the coalition with ANO, then Motoriste has not yet decided which side to choose. And in a situation where the opposing parties have an almost equal number of votes, the Motoriste position becomes key to the formation of a new government. On the one hand, they are EuroSceptics criticizing the EU for climate policy. On the other hand, they position themselves as supporters of tough budget discipline, while Babish promised to move away from the regime of strict savings.
After the announcement of the vote, the representative of Motorist Matee Gregor said that " For Kyiv, it is important that the former president of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus has a strong influence on the party. It is known for considering not the Kremlin, but the Western countries guilty at the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Preparing for the coalition with SPD and Motoriste, Babish rejects the accusations of his pro -Russian position and assures that he will not turn the Czech Republic east. In the election campaign, he recalled that it was during his premiere of Prague that 80 Russian diplomats sent. These actions became a reaction to the conclusions of the Czech special services, which established the involvement of Russia in explosions in the warehouses of ammunition in Vrbetitsa in 2014. At the same time, Babish does not demonstrate a great desire to support Ukraine in its confrontation between Russian aggression.
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Playing the fatigue of the Czechs from the Russian-Ukrainian war, he still promised to cancel the “shell initiative” coordinated by Prague, which helps our country, artillery ammunition. “It is normal that someone earns tens of billions of crowns at the expense of Ukrainians when people die there? After all, this is the money that should go to the Ukrainians. This is non -transparent, states should be done directly. We have nothing against it, but we don’t want someone to earn incredible money in a war where thousands of people are dying, ”Babish said.
After voting, Babish said in a commentary to the Suprikalno television channel that the Czech Republic “helps Ukraine through the EU, the EU helps Ukraine. This is in the next European budget. We pay a lot of money to the European budget - and in this way we will continue to help. " At the same time, Babish does not believe that military assistance to Ukraine needs to be completely stopped, but calls on to convey this issue of NATO. When asked if he will support Ukraine’s entry into the EU and NATO, Babish replied: “But you are not ready for the EU. We must first end the war "
Perhaps Prague will not make a sharp turn in his policy against Kyiv, but Ukrainians should prepare for the Czech Republic can turn away from the unconditional support of our country. Prague also share anxiety in Kyiv in relation to the future foreign policy of Prague: during the election campaign, Babish sharply criticized the initiative of the European Union - such as the “green course”, migration policy and the quotas trafficking system for emissions of harmful substances.
Recall that last year, ANO, together with the Hungarian party " These right -wing parties are known for their sympathy for Moscow. The group itself achieves more sovereignty for EU member states, supports the introduction of more severe measures against illegal immigration and a revision of the green pact for Europe.
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However, President Paul, who has an influence on the formation of the country's foreign policy, said he would not allow the creation of a government that will deviate too much from the pro -Western course.
In the coming weeks, it will become clear whether Andrei Babish will be able to agree with potential allies and what course the new government of the Czech Republic will choose. And in general, will Babish Prime Minister become. But now it is obvious: the influence of Euroskeptic and populist forces in Europe intensifies, which creates favorable ground for Moscow, which plays on the internal disagreements of the European Union. And this will be another test for EU cohesion. Especially in the issue of supporting Ukraine.
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