Gazeta Lodz - Czech billionaire ex-PM's party tops parliamentary vote

His ANO (Yes) party, campaigning on pledges of welfare and halting military aid to Ukraine, scored 35.2 percent of the vote in country of 10.9 million people.

The Together grouping of outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala came second with 22.9 percent, ahead of its coalition partner STAN with 11.1 percent.

A total of six parties looked on track to enter the parliament of the EU and NATO member country.

Fiala's government has provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

But Babis's return to power could draw the Czech Republic closer to EU mavericks Hungary and Slovakia which have refused military aid to Ukraine and oppose sanctions on Russia.

In the European Parliament, ANO is part of the far-right Patriots for Europe bloc, which Babis himself co-founded with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The 71-year-old Babis, a self-proclaimed "Trumpist", said he preferred a single-party government, but he the results indicate he would need partners to rule.

Potential partners include the opposition far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), which gained a preliminary 7.9 percent, and the non-parliamentary right-wing Motorists with 6.8 percent.

The Pirate Party, which quit Fiala's coalition last year, scored 8.7 percent.

- 'Czechs first' -

The SPD is promoting a referendum on the Czech Republic leaving the European Union, something that Babis has vehemently rejected.

"What lies ahead for us is probably a government led by Andrej Babis, but the question is, who he will join forces with?" Otto Eibl, an analyst at Masaryk University in the second Czech city of Brno, told AFP.

He said ANO may team up with the small Motorists party for a minority government relying on backing from the SPD.

Czech President Petr Pavel, who will tap the next premier under the constitution, said he would start talks with the elected party heads on Sunday.

Pavel met Babis earlier this week to discuss the tycoon's clash of interest as a businessman and politician, and the fact that Babis is facing trial over EU subsidy fraud worth over $2 million.

Babis is charged with taking his farm south of Prague out of his sprawling Agrofert food and chemicals holding in 2007 to make it eligible for an EU subsidy for small companies.

Describing himself as a "peacemonger" calling for a truce in Ukraine, Babis has vowed a "Czechs first" approach, echoing US President Donald Trump.

When he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, Babis was critical of some EU policies and is on good terms with Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.

- Russian propaganda -

Charles University analyst Josef Mlejnek told AFP he did not expect "a fundamental change" in Czech foreign policy under Babis, who has business interests in western Europe.

"Babis is a pragmatic businessman and the only thing he cares about is being prime minister," he added.

Petr Just, an analyst at the Metropolitan University in Prague, told AFP a government led by Babis might use harsher rhetoric towards Brussels.

"I would certainly not rule out that we will witness some rhetorical questioning of certain Western steps or actions that the West will take,"he said.

Analysts have pointed out the role of Russian propaganda in the election campaign.

The Czech Online Risks Research Centre said last week that Czech-language accounts on TikTok reaching millions of viewers "systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda and support anti-system parties through manipulated engagement".

The European Commission held an "emergency meeting" with TikTok on Thursday "in the context of the Czech elections", after which the social media platform removed "several bots", said its spokesman Thomas Regnier.

I.Wroblewski--GL