Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said on Wednesday that Czechia will end all government funding to Ukraine if he is re-appointed prime minister, according to Czech media.
According to Novinky.cz, Babiš made the remarks after a parliamentary group meeting.
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The Czech billionaire, who previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, is the chairman of the populist ANO party which won a significant share of the vote in the country’s parliamentary elections this week.
ANO is now in talks with other political parties about forming a coalition government, according to Politico.
“We will not give Ukraine a single crown from our budget,” the prospective prime minister said.
“We have no money for the Czech Republic. We helped Ukraine directly and now we will help through the European Union.”
Babiš campaigned partly on a promise to reduce international aid in favor of addressing Czechia’s domestic problems. In February, reports emerged that Babiš was planning to put an end to the Prague-led ammunition initiative that has sourced over 1.5 million artillery rounds for Ukraine’s war effort.
In reality, as reported by Balkan Insight, Czechia pays for just two percent of the ammunition they source – with other EU states sharing the rest of the cost.
However, the administration of incumbent Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, has not succeeded in communicating this to his electorate.
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On Tuesday, Babiš appeared to backtrack on his pledge to end Czech aid for Ukraine. Novinky.cz quoted him as saying that the ammunition initiative was “in principle a good idea.”
It remains to be seen whether Czechia will join Hungary and Slovakia in actively obstructing the efforts of Ukraine’s European allies, or simply take a less proactive approach to supporting them.