Former Czech Prime Minister and billionaire Andrej Babis, whose ANO party is leading in opinion polls before the parliamentary elections in October, said in an interview with Reuters that if he returns to power, he will stop the current government's arms initiative to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine, News.bg reports.
According to him, the mechanism by which the Czech Republic collects funds from allies, purchases shells from third, often neutral, countries, and sends them to Ukraine is “rotten“ and leads to “unjustified price increases“. According to official data, under this scheme in 2024 1.5 million shells have already been delivered, with the program continuing through 2025.
Babiš, who led the Czech government from 2017 to 2021, added that he would cancel contracts to purchase F-35 fighter jets and would not support an increase in military spending above the legally established threshold of 2% of GDP.
Recent polls show that the ANO party receives the support of about 30% of voters, while the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala collects about 20%. If this trend continues, Babis could form a government with the support of smaller anti-NATO and eurosceptic formations, Reuters notes.
The current Czech President, Peter Pavel, a former general and a fierce supporter of aid to Ukraine, expressed concerns in an interview with the BBC that the next government could deviate from the current line of solidarity with Kiev. Although the presidential institution has mainly representative functions, his words highlight the growing uncertainty about the Czech Republic's future foreign policy orientation.