After four years in opposition, right-wing billionaire Andrej Babiš and his party ANO have emerged as the winners of the Czech parliamentary elections held October 3–4. ANO secured just under 35 percent of the vote, well ahead of the previously governing right-wing coalition Spolu, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which managed only 23 percent.
The result once again highlights the deep and persistent political crisis in the Czech Republic. Babiš’s victory stems largely from the extreme unpopularity of Fiala’s government.
Immediately after taking office in November 2021, the coalition announced its austerity programme titled “Getting the Czech Republic in Shape.” It cut around €4 billion last year, with another €5 billion in cuts planned this year.
The package included cuts to subsidies for small and medium-sized businesses, reductions in the public sector, tax increases and lower pension adjustments alongside an increase in the retirement age. Employees must now work nine years longer than 35 years ago, even though the already low pensions are barely enough to live on—especially in expensive cities like Prague.
In 2022 and 2023, there were mass protests against the government’s brutal austerity measures, which coincided with double-digit inflation that sharply raised the cost of food, fuel and other essentials.
At the same time, rearmament was stepped up. Fiala’s government decided to increase military spending from 2 to 3 percent of GDP by 2030 and placed itself at the forefront of NATO’s military escalation against Russia. It promoted the procurement of air defence systems and armoured vehicles, and through its “Czech ammunition initiative,” has supplied Ukraine with 3.5 million artillery shells since early 2024. As recently as September, the outgoing government approved annual aid worth €41 million for Ukraine until 2030.
The governing party’s election campaign revolved around the alleged threat of a Russian attack on Europe. Fiala used this to justify further austerity.
As vehemently as the government demanded a tougher stance against Russia, it also stood behind Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Officials declared that the Czech Republic was “Israel’s voice in Europe” and opposed every UN or EU resolution that even mildly criticised Israel’s actions against the Palestinians. Between 2022 and 2024, Czech arms exports to Israel doubled.
How far to the right the Prague government had shifted was also evident when, last month, the coalition party KDU-ČSL organised a memorial mass for the US fascist Charlie Kirk, celebrated by Prague’s Cardinal Dominik Duka. Fiala called the assassination of Kirk an “atrocious crime,” without mentioning or criticising Kirk’s fascist views.
Even the nominally “left” or “progressive” forces offered no alternative. While the Pirate Party—whose slate also included Greens—entered parliament, the Social Democrats (ČSSD) and Communists (KSČM), running together under the banner Stačilo! (“Enough!”), once again failed to cross the 5 percent threshold for parliamentary representation, leaving both parties on the verge of political extinction.
Babiš capitalised on widespread hostility to the right-wing government and the absence of a political alternative. During the campaign, he promised an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine, lower taxes and cheaper energy. The funds being spent on Ukraine, he said, should instead “go to our own people.”
Often dubbed the “Czech Trump,” Babiš—whose Agrofert conglomerate makes him one of the country’s richest men, with a fortune of $4.3 billion (Forbes)—railed against migrants, denounced Brussels’ “bureaucracy” and “control mania,” warned of a potential war with Russia and promised higher pensions. “The defence of bread prices has triumphed over the defence of the country,” commented one Fiala supporter bitterly after the result.
In reality, the population already has extensive experience with Babiš, who previously headed the government from 2017 to 2021. In 2019, hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Prague demanding the resignation of the ANO leader.
The 71-year-old billionaire had been a member of the Stalinist Communist Party of Czechoslovakia until its fall in 1989. The son of a senior diplomat, he spent part of his childhood in Paris and Geneva. Like other Stalinist officials, he used capitalist restoration to enrich himself, seizing vast formerly state-owned assets. His Agrofert group owns companies in the agricultural, chemical, food and media sectors.
Babiš entered politics in 2011, founding the right-populist ANO party—an acronym for “Action of Dissatisfied Citizens” and also the Czech word for “yes.” Despite its hard-right policies, ANO repeatedly formed coalitions with the ČSSD and Communists KSČM, both descendants of the old Stalinist state party. In 2018, Babiš formed a coalition with the ČSSD, supported by the KSČM.
At the European level, ANO initially joined the liberal Renew Europe group. In summer 2024, however, Babiš joined Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) leader Herbert Kickl in founding the “Patriots for Europe,” a new alliance of far-right parties including Spain’s Vox, Portugal’s Chega, the Dutch PVV of Geert Wilders, Italy’s Lega and France’s Rassemblement National (RN).
Babiš is deeply implicated in corruption and criminal scandals. In the “Stork’s Nest” case he was charged with subsidy fraud involving the construction of a luxury resort. Prague’s city court twice acquitted him, but both verdicts were overturned by the appeals court. A retrial would require parliament to lift his immunity—unlikely under current majorities.
As during his previous government, Babiš will continue to impose social attacks on the population. His earlier term saw repeated mass protests. In the COVID-19 pandemic, ANO has pursued a policy of allowing the virus to run wild, leading to some of the highest infection and death rates in Europe. A new ANO government will once again serve the narrow wealthy elite, relying on the support of the far right to enforce its agenda.
On election night, Babiš announced that he sought to form a single-party government. Lacking a majority, he will need the support of at least two other parties—most likely the motorists’ party Motoristé, which won about 7 percent, and the SPD, which secured just under 8 percent. Both are far-right parties with close links to fascist groups, combining demands for free markets with calls for withdrawal from the EU and NATO. The first talks between these parties were held secretly on Saturday evening in Průhonice.
However, the return of ANO to power is unlikely to bring major changes to Czech policy on the war against Russia or its relationship with the EU—despite Babiš’ campaign rhetoric. He is well aware of the country’s dependence on the EU. “No observer believes he will take the Czechs out of the EU, not least because the billionaire has major business interests within the bloc through his Agrofert empire,” commented the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the election.
And the election pledge to stop weapons deliveries to Ukraine was quickly watered down. Party vice-chair Karel Havlíček, a possible prime ministerial candidate, said on election night that ANO merely wanted to ensure that “the financing and procurement of ammunition were properly carried out.”
The daily Lidové noviny, a mouthpiece for EU-friendly circles, likewise declared that there was no threat of a “coalition of horrors” and no danger to the Czech Republic’s security or foreign policy.