Babis returns as Czech PM, stirs EU, Ukraine worries

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The new government of Czech billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis was sworn in on Monday amid questions about its ties to the EU and aid to war-ravaged Ukraine.

Babis’s catch-all ANO movement won a general election in the EU and NATO member state of 10.9 million people in October.

It has teamed up with two eurosceptic parties, the far-right SPD and right-wing Motorists, to form the cabinet with the backing of 108 lawmakers in the 200-seat parliament.

President Petr Pavel swore in Babis’s 15 ministers – 13 men and two women.

Babis, who was previously prime minister from 2017 to 2021, has vowed to fight for Czech interests “not only at home, but everywhere in the world.”

While the SPD recently gave up on its idea of holding a referendum on leaving the EU, the government’s policy statement says the EU has “its limits” and no right to impose decisions infringing on the sovereignty of member states.

In the European Parliament, ANO and the Motorists are a part of the far-right Patriots for Europe bloc, co-founded by Babis and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

After meeting European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels last week, Babis, 71, insisted he was not “in a club” with Orban and Slovak nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico but looked “for allies for the Czech Republic everywhere”.

Both Orban and Fico have been under EU scrutiny for rule of law infringement and their ties to Moscow despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In his election campaign, Babis – the seventh wealthiest Czech according to Forbes magazine — rejected direct aid to Ukraine, saying Prague’s contributions to the EU budget which in turn sends aid to Kyiv would suffice.

In Brussels last week, he said any aid to Ukraine must be accompanied by a clear plan for peace and truce.

ANO has nine ministers, the SPD has nominated three non-partisan experts and the Motorists have three ministers.

Motorists chairman Petr Macinka will serve as both foreign and environment minister.

The party last week withdrew their environment minister nominee Filip Turek after media published racist and homophobic posts on social media attributed to him.

Turek is also under police investigation for alleged rape and domestic violence following a complaint by a former girlfriend, and Pavel had suggested he would not appoint him.

AFP

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