Czech citizens went to the polls on Friday for the second day of EU elections, with polls suggesting a strong showing for the Eurosceptic Right.
One party expected to do particularly well is the populist ANO of former prime minister Andrej Babiš, which has surged in popularity in recent months after adopting a new conservative agenda opposing the EU Green Deal and Migration Pact. Progressives in Brussels have expressed fears that the billionaire politician is breaking from the liberalism that has defined his political career until now.
Babiš, who served as prime minister until 2021, is an agri-chemical entrepreneur who prospered in the aftermath of communism. Formerly a pro-EU liberal, his rhetoric has recently shifted to the populist Right.
The country is currently governed by a five-party coalition, including Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s pro-Atlanticist ODS, Christian Democrats, and the country’s left-leaning Pirate Party since 2021. However, they are facing a challenge over what Czech researcher Tomáš Cirhan has described as a backlash against mass migration and green policies.
Voter turnout in Czechia is traditionally low for EU elections, but the centre, populist, and nationalist Right is strongly expected to overperform and win the majority of the country’s 21 ME
Polls give Babiš’ ANO a commanding 20% lead over Fiala’s ODS, however the PM’s party is running a joint list with their Christian Democratic coalition partners, significantly boosting their combined vote.
Additionally, strategic coordination between Czechia’s two main nationalist parties, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Trikolora, should also secure seats for the nationalist Right.
“We don’t want African and Arab immigrants or the spread of Islam and mosques!” warned SPD leader Tomio Okamura, himself of mixed Japanese and Czech heritage.
Meanwhile, liberals are pinning their hopes on the Pirate Party as other progressive and left-leaning parties fall in popularity. However, the establishment media is already hand-wringing that the country is becoming a “vanguard of the new hard-right.”
