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Eurosceptic billionaire Andrej Babiš and his ANO party are on course to return to power in the Czech Republic, in a result that threatens to undermine western support for Ukraine.
With 99 per cent of the votes counted in the country’s parliamentary elections, ANO led with almost 35 per cent, ahead of the centre-right Spolu alliance of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which attracted 23 per cent of the vote, the national election commission said.
To reclaim the premiership he lost in 2021, Babiš said late Saturday that he hoped to form an ANO government backed by two smaller rightwing parties. Based on the preliminary results, ANO was projected to get 80 of the 200 seats in the lower house of parliament, with ANO’s probable allies — the far-right SPD and the Motorists — winning respectively 15 and 13 seats.
The return of the businessman-turned-politician risks complicating western support for Ukraine, particularly as ANO has warned that it would withdraw from a Prague-led initiative supplying ammunition to Kyiv.
During the campaign, Fiala framed the election as a choice between keeping the Czech Republic firmly anchored in the EU and Nato, or allowing ANO to align the country more closely with pro-Russia governments in Hungary and Slovakia.
Last year, ANO co-founded a European parliamentary group alongside Hungary’s Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The bloc also includes France’s Rassemblement National and Austria’s Freedom Party, both far-right formations with a history of pro-Russian sympathies.
Babiš has strongly denied being pro-Moscow, insisting he has never met President Vladimir Putin, unlike Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, both of whom have visited the Kremlin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Babiš is not an extremist but a dealmaker and populist who wants to have a catch-all party and he believes that he can offer something to everybody,” said Petr Kolář, a former Czech ambassador to Russia, before the vote.
“I don’t think Babiš will be against [more] sanctions” on Russia, he added. “I believe that Babiš is inspired by Orbán, he admires him, but he doesn’t want to be perceived as a troublemaker in Brussels so much.”
The far-right SPD has called for a Czech referendum on exiting the EU. But celebrating his win on Saturday, Babiš said his own ANO party was “clearly pro-European and pro-Nato”, determined to “save Europe” by blocking EU green deal and pro-migration legislation.
“Europe is suffering, Europe is not competitive anymore,” Babiš said.
Both Orbán and Fico congratulated Babiš on Saturday evening. “Truth has prevailed!” Orbán wrote on X, calling the result “a big step for the Czech Republic, good news for Europe”.
Emulating President Donald Trump’s campaign tactics in the US, Babiš ran on an anti-migration platform, selling red baseball caps emblazoned with “Strong Czechia”. He also used his wealth and business record to claim he could clean up the Czech political swamp.
However, a victory for Babiš would again draw attention to potential conflicts of interest over Agrofert, his agricultural and chemicals conglomerate. Since leaving office, he has faced court cases over allegations of fraudulent EU subsidy payments linked to the group dating back to 2015.
Coalition talks could also be influenced by President Petr Pavel, who will nominate the next prime minister. A former Nato commander, Pavel has worked closely with Fiala’s government to back Ukraine and counter alleged Russian disinformation campaigns.
Pavel congratulated ANO on its win and said that he would meet its leader on Sunday to discuss the formation of the next government.
Before the vote, Pavel had urged citizens to “not leave us at the mercy of Russia”. But the Czech president wrote on Saturday on X that “the results show that voters have unequivocally confirmed the predominantly pro-western orientation of our country”.
The unexpected loser in the elections was a far-left group spearheaded by Czech communists, which missed the threshold of 5 per cent of the votes required to enter parliament.
