this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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38
Czech billionaire Andrej Babis vows a pro-western course after election win (www.lemonde.fr)
submitted 5 hours ago by Severus_Snape@lemmy.world to c/europe@feddit.org
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[–] Dionysus@leminal.space 1 points 1 hour ago

Andrej Babis wins again—but don’t be fooled by his “pro-Western” talk. This is a convicted embezzler who stole EU funds and has deep ties to the communist secret police (StB). His priority? Himself, not democracy or the Czech people.

He’s cozying up to far-right extremists like SPD and the Motorists, parties with Nazi-lite tendencies. This coalition looks like Hungary or Slovakia’s Kremlin-friendly puppets, not a strong NATO ally.

Claiming to support Ukraine but wanting to cut military aid is a betrayal. Russia’s war crimes won’t stop because Babis chooses convenience over courage. The Czech Republic should stand firm with Ukraine and NATO, not waver like some fence-sitter.

No more business as usual with oligarchs playing nationalist card. Europe’s security depends on pushing back hard against these populist, authoritarian backslides. Watch closely: words mean nothing without action.

Babis’s “pro-European” act is just a mask.

[–] jjpamsterdam@feddit.org 16 points 3 hours ago

Deeds are worth more than words. We should wait for the new government to take action and judge it accordingly. If Babiš' last term is anything to go by his main priority will be himself.

[–] Bullerfar@lemmy.world 13 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

An wth does that mean? That he is meloni 2.0?

[–] plactagonic@sopuli.xyz 11 points 4 hours ago

That our country will be a shitshow for some time and is heading towards early elections probably next year.

Just sum it up he is convicted of embezzlement of EU funds. So he needed to stay in politics so he doesn't end up in jail. That is true for other party SPD which is bunch of naci nutheads.

So he needs support from 2 other parties to get majority and because both of them know how desperate he is they want something (ministry seat...). Unfortunately they are completely incompatible with each other so it will be fun.

The president said that he won't accept any minister that wants to exit NATO or EU.

The way we are heading is the Slovakia or Hungary route unfortunately. But these elections have silver lining - we got rid of Communist party (hopefully) and the pro democratic block is still quite strong (they lost mandates but not votes because of how is it counter and distributed).

So it's not black and white or complete disaster for EU and our country (which has still strong democracy for now).

[–] SapphireSphinx@feddit.org 11 points 5 hours ago

An wth does that mean?

My 2ct goes to: He will suck the country dry, enrich himself and blame the foreigners and the EU.

According to the documents of the National Memory Institute in Slovakia, Babiš collaborated with the State Security Police (StB) of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, under the code name agent Bureš. He denies the accusations, and in 2012 sued the institute for defamation. In January 2018, the Bratislava regional court ruled definitively that Babiš was an StB agent. This final court case may not be appealed.

[...]

This case was investigated by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF). OLAF's final report was delivered to the Czech officers of the Ministry of Finance on 27 December 2017. Journalist Sabina Slonková published a report of the results on the website Neovlivni.cz on 3 January 2018, concluding that OLAF's final report confirmed the results of the investigation by the Czech Police and prosecutors that the fraud was planned from the beginning.

[...]

Babiš has been linked closely to President Miloš Zeman since at least 2001, when Zeman was prime minister, and his business interests are alleged to have benefited from the association. In 2001, Zeman oversaw the sale of Unipetrol, a state-owned chemical company, to Babiš. Babiš pulled out of the sale, but later oversaw the sale of the firm to a Polish company. According to Polish reports, the sale was accompanied by substantial bribery, although Babis denied that any bribes were paid.

[...]

A preliminary version of the EU audit reached 22 findings, with a recommendation to take action to repay EU funds totalling 17.49 million euros. The audit concluded that Babiš had a conflict of interest by taking part in decisions about the allocation of EU funds.

[...]

Babiš has a reputation for surrounding himself with senior police officers, security agents, and former Communist informers.

[...]

Šincl described Babiš's tactic, of reading potentially damaging facts about him from a file marked with his name, as reminiscent of StB tactics.

[...]

In a conversation with MF Dnes journalist Marek Přibil, he discusses the date of publication of damaging stories about Interior Minister Milan Chovanec and Minister of Health Miloslav Ludvík. On the tape, Babiš is recorded instructing Přibil to tell František Nachtigall, the director of strategic development, when and how to publish the stories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrej_Babi%C5%A1#Controversies

[–] gian@lemmy.grys.it -1 points 4 hours ago

Honestly, Meloni is far better that what the other parties can offer today, which is basically zero, all they say is what Meloni should not do, nothing about what they would do instead.