None of the presidents of the institutional trio made an official statement on Monday 6 October, following the landslide victory of Andrej Babiš’ ANO party in the Czech parliamentary elections over the weekend.
With 80 seats out of 200 in the national parliament, the ANO party will have to find a solution to govern the Czech Republic. Mr Babiš is said to be leaning towards a minority government relying on the far-right SPD and Motorists for Themselves parties. This would overcome the obstacle posed by the Czech President, Petr Pavel, who refuses to appoint figures opposed to the country’s continued membership of the EU and NATO. Discussions could take several months.
A future ‘Babiš’ government is likely to be hostile to EU environmental action, in particular the end of internal combustion engines in new vehicles post-2035, and to oppose Ukraine’s accession negotiations. With regard to increasing military spending, Mr Babiš felt that NATO should be responsible for driving the European initiative to supply Ukraine with two million munitions, in which the Czech Republic will play a leading role (see EUROPE 13601/5).
Asked to comment on this issue, the European Commission said that the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, was in contact with Member States to ask them to step up support in order to reach “80%” of the target set. The issue will be discussed by European defence ministers in Brussels on Wednesday 15 October.
Until the European elections in June 2024, the ANO party was part of the centre-right Renew Europe group. Since the start of the new legislature, Mr Babiš has helped to set up the far-right PfE group with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán.
He welcomed the fact that the Czechs had “kept their wits about them” during the parliamentary elections, and that he could count on “another ally in the battles to come in Brussels”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)