Billionaire former prime minister Andrej Babis won this weekend's general election in the Czech Republic, official results showed, though his party fell short of an overall majority. His victory, based partly on campaign promises to halt aid to Ukraine, puts the country on course for tense relations with both Kyiv and Brussels.
With nearly all ballots counted by Saturday night, Babis and his ANO ("Yes") party had around 35 percent of the vote.
The centre-right, pro-western coalition led by the outgoing prime minister, Petr Fiala, had 23 percent.
A total of six parties will make up the new parliament. A group of mayors known as STAN, also a member of Fiala's bloc, had 11 percent of the vote, while another ally of Fiala, the Pirates party, reached nearly 9 percent.
The anti-immigration, eurosceptic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party got just short of 8 percent, and a right-wing group calling itself the Motorists won around 7 percent.
Babis said he would seek backing from both the SPD and the Motorists for an ANO government. Czech President Petr Pavel is due to meet with Babis and other party leaders on Sunday.
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'Czechs first'
Celebrating at his party headquarters in Prague, Babis called the result "historic".
An admirer of US President Donald Trump and ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the European Parliament, Babis nonetheless stressed that his party was "pro-European and pro-NATO".
The businessman campaigned on populist policies including boosting welfare and rethinking aid for Ukraine. Describing himself as a "peacemonger" calling for a truce in the war with Russia, Babis has vowed a "Czechs first" approach.
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Babis was critical of some EU policies while he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, and is on good terms with Hungary's Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.
In 2024 he co-founded the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, which includes France's National Rally among other parties.
(with newswires)
