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European billionaire Andrig Babi and his party in Ano on his way to win the authority in the Czech Republic as a result of a threat to undermining Western support for Ukraine.
The National Committee for the National Elections said that 97 percent of the votes calculated, remained 35 percent, before the center -right coalition of Prime Minister Peter Valla, which attracted 23 percent of the votes.
To restore the Premier League in 2021, Babiš is likely to rely on coalition partners. Under the Czech law, only parties that win at least 5 percent of the votes can enter Parliament, and remain unclear – and the number of smaller parties will achieve that threshold.
The return of the businessman who turned into a politician holds Western support to Ukraine, especially since Ano has warned that it will withdraw from an initiative led by Prague, which provides the ammunition of Kiev.
During the campaign, Viela frams the elections as a choice between keeping the Czech Republic firmly in the European Union and NATO, or allowing Ano to align the country more closely with the governments supporting Russia in Hungary and Slovakia.
Last year, Ano participated in the founding of a European parliamentary group alongside the Fieldsz party in Hungary, led by Prime Minister VikTor Orbán. The bloc also includes the National Freedom Party in France, both of which are developed right -wing formations with a history of the pro -Russian sympathy.
Babiš strongly denied that he was a supporter of the employee, and insisted that he had never met President Vladimir Putin, unlike Prime Minister Urban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, both of whom visited the Kremlin since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“Babiš is not an extremist but a deals and a popular manufacturer who wants to have a comprehensive party and believes that he can present something to everyone,” said Peter Kulham, a former ambassador in Russia, before the vote.
“I don’t think Babiš will be against (more) sanctions” on Russia. “I think Babiš is inspired by Orbán, he admires him, but he does not want to be seen as rioters in Brussels a lot.”
Simulation of President Donald Trump’s campaign tactics in the United States, Babiš ran on an anti -immigration platform, and the sale of red baseball caps full of “strong Chasea”. He also used his wealth and commercial form to claim that he could clean the Czech political swamp.
However, Babi’s victory again would draw attention again to the conflict of his interest over Agroft, which is his agricultural and chemical bloc. Since his departure, he has faced court cases due to allegations of European Union’s fraudulent support payments related to the group dating back to 2015.
The coalition talks can also be affected by President Peter Paville, who will nominate the next Prime Minister. Pavel, a former NATO commander, worked closely with the Viela government to support Ukraine and combat the alleged Russian misinformation campaigns.
This week, Pavel urged citizens to elect “a government that defends our sovereignty in the society of democratic countries and not to leave at the mercy of Russia.”
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