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His party, ANO 2011, lost the general election in 2021, but former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš is once again ready to take the reins in Prague. ANO came out on top in the election of 3-4 October, and on Monday President Petr Pavel asked him to form a government.
With 34.5% of the vote (80 seats of 200 in parliament), ANO does not have a majority. Babiš, a post-communist oligarch who made his fortune in agribusiness, will have to build a coalition. A populist alliance is possible – perhaps with the far-right SPD (Freedom and Direct Democracy, 15 seats), or the anti-green Motorists for Themselves (13 seats).
Andrej Babiš is an admirer of Viktor Orban, but what are his relationships with Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump? How does he see the war in Ukraine, or his neighbours, or the European Union? 21 years after the Czechs’ triumphant entry into the EU, what has become of their European dream? And is their democracy really in peril? We'll be discussing all this with Czech journalist Jakub Patočka, founder and editor-in-chief of Deník Referendum and a longstanding friend of Voxeurop, on Monday 10 November at 1:30 pm Paris/Brussels time. The conversation will be in English.
🤝 This live is produced in partnership with Deník Referendum as part of the PULSE project, a European initiative aimed at promoting cross-border journalistic cooperation.
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