Andrej Babis, leader of the ANO party, has pledged to cut aid to Ukraine should he secure victory.
The right-wing party of agricultural billionaire Andrej Babis, whom local media have dubbed ‘Czech Trump’, has taken the lead in his country’s parliamentary election.
The Czech Statistical Office released initial results several hours after voting concluded across the Central European nation of 11 million earlier on Saturday.
With ballots from 20% of voting districts tallied, Babis’ opposition ANO (Yes) party was ahead with 39.7% of the vote, followed by the Spolu (Together) group, led by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, with 19.1%, the agency reported.
Babis has campaigned on a promise to discontinue Czech military assistance to Kyiv, a position in stark contrast to Fiala, who has been a firm supporter of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
The 71-year-old, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, has been particularly critical of Prague’s ammunition initiative for Kyiv, describing it as “overpriced” and insisting that NATO should manage it.
He has also voiced opposition to Ukraine’s membership in the EU, and criticized Brussels’ handling of immigration and the Green Deal.
Western media had warned before the vote that with Hungary and Slovakia already declining to provide military aid to Kyiv and advocating for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, a Babis victory in the Czech Republic could push Central Europe further away from Brussels on Ukraine and other critical issues.