The EU’s latest stance on anti-Russian sanctions ‘looks hypocritical’ and demonstrates Brussels’ ambivalence, Czech President Milos Zeman said on Thursday night in a TV Barrandov broadcast. “I assert that the European Union’s decision to announce anti-Russian sanctions was a foolish thing to do. Now other [European politicians] say the same,” he said. “The United […]
A far-right party whose leader wants to quit the EU and urged Czechs to walk pigs near mosques and stop eating kebabs, performed surprisingly well in an election, potentially giving it a chance to influence how the next government is formed. The Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party rode a wave of far-right sentiment in […]
One of the important issues discussed at the two-day EU summit in Brussels was proposed changes in the mechanism of EU decision-making, which would allow some EU members to push ahead with integration faster. For the Czech Republic, which is still outside the Eurozone, this could present a serious problem. There is general consensus in […]
Europe’s year of political upheaval isn’t over. In the Czech republic, a charismatic, controversial billionaire dubbed the ‘Czech Berlusconi’ – and more recently the ‘Czech Trump’ – is poised to take power. Hot on the heels of Austria’s hard shift to the right, this weekend’s legislative election in the Czech Republic could be another shock […]
As Rebecca Perring writes in Express.co.uk a post-election Czexit could be in play. Excerpt below. Billionaire former finance minister Andrej Babis is heading up a campaign steered towards Czechs who feel forgotten by the Brussels club, and his anti-EU rhetoric is gathering momentum, as polls predict he will seize power in the October elections. His anti-establishment party […]
As L. Todd Wood reports in The Washington Times the Czech Republic is on the verge of slipping back into Russia’s “iron embrace”. Excerpt below: One of the hallmarks of the ex-Soviet countries is the reign of the self-serving elite, which evolved from the old communist “nomenklatura” — the top party cadre. Oligarchs usually run the country, […]
Cynthia Kroet writes in Politico that Andrej Babiš has been formally charged by Czech Police. Excerpt below. Police filed charges against Babiš, a former finance minister, and his deputy Jaroslav Faltýnek for subsidy fraud linked to a farm and conference center nearly a decade ago. Babiš is believed to be behind a plan to acquire […]
As Peter Laca writes in Bloomberg Czech voters may have found their own version of Donald Trump. Excerpt below. Like the U.S. in 2016, voters in the Czech Republic look set to hand power to a populist billionaire who attacks traditional parties and promises to run the state as one of his businesses. Andrej Babis is leading in […]
Slovakia’s Constitutional Court has ruled there is sufficent evidence that Babiš was an agent of the StB, the communist secret police. The Slovak keeper of communist police archives has uncovered at least 12 documents outlining Babiš recruitment, under the code name Bureš, as well as extensive records of spying activities. Thursday’s ruling means any new court […]