The leader of the winning party in the Czech elections, Andrej Babiš, indicated that his country helps Ukraine through the European Union, and the "shell initiative" should go through NATO.
Multibillionaire Andrej Babiš, whose opposition party "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" (ANO) won the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, spoke out against Ukraine's accession to the European Union. "You are not ready for the EU. First, we must finish the war, and of course, we can cooperate with Ukraine, but you are not ready for the EU," the former Czech Prime Minister Babiš stated on Sunday, October 5, in response to a question from a correspondent of the Ukrainian TV channel "Suspilne."
Commenting on military assistance to Ukraine, Babiš pointed out that the Czech Republic is helping Ukraine through the European Union. "The EU is helping Ukraine, and this is provided for in the European budget, and we pay a lot of money into the European budget, thus we will continue to help," explained the ANO leader.
The "Shell Initiative" should be carried out through NATO
In Andrej Babiš's opinion, the "shell initiative" initiated by the Czech Republic for Ukraine should be conducted through NATO. "It should be transparent, and if there is a war, no one should make money from the war. It should be organized by NATO," he indicated.
Babiš also stated that he has supported Ukraine since the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014 and the annexation of Crimea. He noted that he has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky three times, including in November 2019.
After his party's victory in the elections, Babiš announced that he intends to meet with Czech President Petr Pavel on October 5 and "offer a solution that complies with Czech and European legislation."
Babiš's party won the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic
According to the official results of the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, which took place on October 3-4, the right-wing party "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" led by populist Babiš received the most votes (34.5%), but not an absolute majority in parliament. Babiš, a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, previously held the positions of Minister of Finance and Prime Minister of the Czech Republic but has remained in opposition in recent years. He now intends to return to power with the slogan "Czechia First."
The second place with 23.4% of the votes was taken by the center-right bloc of the current Prime Minister Petr Fiala, "Together" (Spolu), which unites three parties, and third place went to the centrist liberal party "Mayors and Independents" (STAN) with 11.2% of the votes.
Outgoing Prime Minister Fiala congratulated Babiš on his election victory and ruled out the possibility of forming a new ruling coalition. After the elections, President Pavel is expected to assign the formation of the government.
