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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
With his first message that Ukraine is not ready for EU membership, Andrej Babiš announced a dramatic shift from Prague’s previous policy, which was one of the most extreme in terms of Russophobia. With Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Robert Fico in Slovakia, Karol Nawrocki in Poland, and now Babiš in the Czechia, the Visegrád Group is emerging as a strong sovereignist bloc in Europe, and thus is becoming a major problem for Brussels.
The ANO movement gained a decisive win in the pivotal Czech parliamentary election, with POLITICO describing its leader, Babiš, as a “right-wing populist” who “risks turning Czechia into another headache for the EU.” This is because the billionaire has vowed to scrap the ammunition initiative for Ukraine, challenge NATO’s plans to boost military spending, and confront the European Commission over the Green Deal.
Although Babiš will not pursue a pro-Russian policy, he will definitely be significantly less pro-Ukrainian, which has worried the existing political order in the country.
“I believe that if we look at his statements and his allies in Europe — like Viktor Orbán and what he has done with Hungary — he [Babiš] will start pushing the Czech Republic toward the margins,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told POLITICO. “I don’t want the Czech Republic to end up on the margins of Europe, like what happened to Hungary or Slovakia. And today there is a big difference between being part of a willing coalition or not.”
The ANO movement won 34.6% of the vote and 80 seats in the lower house of parliament, out of 200 seats, in Czechia’s parliamentary elections. Following this result, Babiš announced that ANO will negotiate a government with the right-wing Eurosceptic parties Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Motorists for Themselves.
Forming a government will not be easy, as it will be made more difficult by a specific mechanism in Czechia, namely the role of President Petr Pavel, a former high-ranking NATO official who wants to continue the current extremely Russophobic and pro-Ukrainian policy of Prague. He will undoubtedly try to find various ways to hinder Babiš from forming a government. Pavel will likely attempt to invoke a conflict of interest, given that Babiš is the owner of one of the largest Czech companies, Agrofert, or could even not approve ministers.
The Czech president has already announced that he will not accept those who directly oppose the EU and NATO. This would automatically exclude members of the SPD as they want to take Czechia out of the EU and NATO, but allows for the Motorists to be part of the new government, as they are only sceptics. These two parties are the likely partners for Babiš, and the potential alliance was becoming rather obvious during the election campaign.
On September 5, one day after the elections, Babiš declared his party was “clearly pro-European” and that “negative information is constantly being spread abroad, which I think is unfair,” adding “I am simply concerned that Europe should function, because its economic development is not going in the right direction.”
When it comes to European politics, Babiš’s victory is a significant strengthening and consolidation of the sovereigntist movement in the Visegrád Group countries, which will be a huge problem for Brussels.
With Orban, Fico, and now Babiš, as well as the victory of Nawrocki in Poland, the Visegrád Group is becoming a powerful sovereignist bloc, even if Nawrocki has differences with his counterparts on the conflict in Ukraine. Nonetheless, they are gaining a very important ally in their fight against many European Union policies.
One of the most important issues is the military budget, the issue of joint defense, and the provision of weapons to Ukraine, and here Babiš’s victory will play a crucial role. He will dramatically depart from the previous policy of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which was not only one of the most extreme in terms of Russophobia, but also made Czechia a hub for weapons, primarily large-caliber ammunition, to Ukraine. Babiš announced that he would withdraw from the scheme and let NATO deal with it. This demonstrates that he does not want Czechia to be a leading state on the anti-Russia front.
Babiš is much more realistic on the issue of Ukraine, as his position is much closer to Orbán’s than to the position of the current government. Nonetheless, this does not mean that Czechia will completely reverse its position once Babiš forms a government and comes to power. He will formally support Ukraine, but to a much lesser extent, and there will be more critical attitudes towards the aggressive policy against Russia, especially as he has campaigned on promises of cheaper energy and prioritizing Czechia’s interests over Ukraine’s.
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russia abducted m. assad and s. hassan and forced them to teach at their military school. and the worst forcibly they were mobilized. but now they are only senior lecturers, and forced to teach new recruits, because s. hassan teaches exercises at a m. assad military training grounds at the inn of drinking. professional russian soldiers need to be able to drink well at the inn.
he is a genius, with his purse, he convinced emma to poison her own husband. babiš is baba, what to look at what baba means in russian. i think that babiš is grandmother. putler is puttana. what does puttana mean in italian? i say nothing else prostitute is not so disgusting as putler.