{"id":106726,"date":"2025-10-07T12:42:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/106726\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T12:42:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T12:42:18","slug":"eurosceptics-and-russia-hail-czech-tycoons-election-win-as-blow-to-brussels-and-kyiv-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/106726\/","title":{"rendered":"Eurosceptics and Russia hail Czech tycoon\u2019s election win as blow to Brussels and Kyiv \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eurosceptic politicians and Russian officials have warmly welcomed Andrej Babis<\/a>\u2019 victory in Czech<\/a> parliamentary elections, even as the billionaire admirer of US president Donald Trump<\/a> denied that he would tilt Prague away from Brussels and towards Moscow.<\/p>\n

Babis\u2019s Ano party \u2013 whose name means \u201cyes\u201d in Czech and is also an abbreviation for the \u201caction of dissatisfied citizens\u201d \u2013 secured 80 seats in voting held on Friday and Saturday, well clear of the ruling centre-right Spolu coalition with 52 seats.<\/p>\n

On the campaign trail, sometimes wearing a red Maga-style baseball cap bearing the slogan \u201cStrong Czechia\u201d, Babis laid out a \u201cCzechs first\u201d manifesto.<\/p>\n

It pledged to cut taxes, raise pensions and end Prague\u2019s leadership of a programme to buy artillery shells for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

He also railed against immigration and the EU\u2019s Green Deal to slash carbon emissions, reflecting what Ano calls the real interests of ordinary Czechs but which critics regard as cynical populism.<\/p>\n

Babis (71) wants Ano to rule alone but with support from the only two other parties in parliament that will work with him \u2013 the far right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party and the populist anti-green Motorists, who with 15 and 13 seats respectively, would give his government a working majority in the 200-seat chamber.<\/p>\n

The tycoon vows to resist SPD calls for referendums on Czech membership of the EU and Nato, and insists he is strongly pro-western and has no desire to curry favour with the Kremlin. But Brussels and Kyiv will have noted how the loudest international praise for Ano\u2019s victory has come from Eurosceptic nationalists and from Moscow.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Czech billionaire set to return to power after election winOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"AndrejAndrej Babis: ‘We want, obviously, to talk about Europe \u2013 about European citizens, about energy prices, the migration pact.’ Photograph: Reuters\/ David W Cerny <\/p>\n

\u201cTruth has prevailed! Andrej Babis has won the Czech parliamentary elections … A big step for the Czech Republic, good news for Europe,\u201d said Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban<\/a>, whose increasingly autocratic rule, strong ties with Russia and opposition to support for Ukraine has put him at odds with Brussels for a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll across Europe, patriotic parties are being called to power by the people, who long to reclaim their freedom and prosperity!\u201d wrote French politician Marine Le Pen<\/a>, whose far right National Rally is partnered with Ano and Orban\u2019s Fidesz party in the European Parliament\u2019s Patriots for Europe group.<\/p>\n

Matteo Salvini<\/a>, Italy\u2019s far right deputy prime minister, wrote: \u201cThe Patriots are advancing all across Europe! Our friend Andrej Babis … is preparing to lead a government that will focus on fighting illegal immigration, saying no to war, and stopping Brussels\u2019 crazy policies.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The billionaire politician making a Trump-like comeback in the Czech RepublicOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"KirillKirill Dmitriev: ‘Europe is waking up \u2013 enough of uncontrolled immigration, war fever, censorship and economic decline. The Right choice is winning across Europe.’ Photograph: EPA <\/p>\n

The most striking response came from Russia, where supporters of authoritarian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> and his war welcomed Babis\u2019s win in the tone they reserve for anything they hope will weaken Europe and Ukraine \u2013 whether Trump\u2019s vacillations and push for a rapprochement with Moscow or Orban\u2019s obstruction of EU aid to Kyiv.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope is waking up \u2013 enough of uncontrolled immigration, war fever, censorship and economic decline. The Right choice is winning across Europe,\u201d wrote Kirill Dmitriev, a former Goldman Sachs banker who is now a senior Russian finance official and key Kremlin envoy in talks with the White House.<\/p>\n

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international affairs committee in Russia\u2019s lower house of parliament, welcomed \u201canother slap in the face for Euro-Atlanticists and Brussels Russophobes\u201d and a victory for Czech \u201cconservatives and Eurosceptics critical of the country\u2019s policy of supporting the Ukrainian junta\u201d.<\/p>\n

Babis insists he is no admirer of Putin and only wants the EU \u2013 and its support for Ukraine \u2013 to work more efficiently and more favourably for Czechs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are clearly pro-European and pro-Nato,\u201d Babis said as he celebrated victory. \u201cThe EU has 27 members. Ukraine is not a member of the EU. We want, obviously, to talk about Europe \u2013 about European citizens, about energy prices, the migration pact.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eurosceptic politicians and Russian officials have warmly welcomed Andrej Babis\u2019 victory in Czech parliamentary elections, even as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,11022,4893,13,14,6,11,12,15,16,5,550,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-106726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-czech-republic","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-latest-news","16":"tag-latestnews","17":"tag-main-news","18":"tag-mainnews","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-russia","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-topstories","23":"tag-world","24":"tag-world-news","25":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}