Andrej Babis, a billionaire supporter of US President Donald Trump, returned to power as Czech prime minister on Tuesday, signalling a possible end to Ukraine aid and potentially rockier ties with the European Union.
Babis’s ANO movement, which won October parliamentary elections, teamed up with two eurosceptic parties to form a coalition government.
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In its policy statement, the coalition said the EU had “its limits” and no right to impose decisions infringing on the sovereignty of member states.
In his campaign, Babis has also vowed to curb aid to Ukraine, battling a Russian invasion since 2022. The outgoing centre-right government gave humanitarian and military aid.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky wished Babis success and said in a post on X that he wanted to strengthen cooperation. “We must be strong together for the sake of lasting peace, resilience, and Europe’s security. I look forward to meeting with the head of the Czech government in the near future,” Zelensky said.
President Petr Pavel appointed the 71-year-old Babis, who governed the EU and NATO member of 10.9 million people from 2017 to 2021.
“I promise all citizens of the Czech Republic to fight for their interests at home and abroad,” said Babis, who has described himself as “Trumpist” in the past.
Pavel, a former general, stressed that Prague would need to commit to “our ties within both the EU and NATO” with the Ukraine war raging nearby. He called on Babis to show “vision but also courage”.
– Fraud trial –
Throughout his political career, Babis has battled conflict of interest allegations over his roles in business and politics, drawing mass protests during his earlier term.
Thousands rallied against Babis last month on the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled communism in the former Czechoslovakia.
Slovak-born, Babis is the seventh wealthiest Czech according to Forbes magazine. He made his fortune as the owner of the sprawling food and chemicals holding Agrofert and other companies.
Pavel urged Babis to resolve the conflict of interest before he is appointed, and the new premier last week vowed to put Agrofert in the hands of an independent administrator.
He did not disclose details, but Pavel said he was happy with the explanation and promised to appoint him.
Babis is to stand trial over a two-million-euro ($2.3 million) fraud. He is accused of taking a farm out of Agrofert in 2007 to make it eligible for an EU subsidy for small companies.
Babis, a former Communist Party member, has also battled allegations of being a communist secret police agent in the 1980s.
He has denied any wrongdoing, calling all the allegations a “smear campaign”.
Babis, who holds an economics degree, entered politics with his ANO party in 2011.
He was finance minister from 2014 to 2017 but was ousted after leaked recordings showed he had influenced reporters working for his newspapers, which he has since sold.
In 2023, he lost a presidential run-off vote to Pavel.
– Controversial candidate dropped –
In the European Parliament, ANO and its coalition partner, the Motorists, are part of the far-right Patriots for Europe bloc, which Babis co-founded with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Together with the far-right SPD, the three parties hold 108 seats in the 200-member Czech parliament.
On Tuesday, Babis submitted a list of candidates for ministers to Pavel, who is to name the rest of the cabinet.
Babis told reporters the list did not include Filip Turek, the Motorists’ candidate for the environment minister, who is under police investigation for alleged rape and domestic violence following a complaint by a former girlfriend.
Pavel had suggested he would not appoint Turek.
Police had also probed Turek for allegedly giving Nazi salutes in public, but they shelved the case.
Czech media have published racist and homophobic posts on social media attributed to Turek.
AFP