Former Czech Prime Minister and billionaire Andrej Babis, whose party ANO is leading in opinion polls ahead of the October parliamentary elections, was hit in the head with a metal object at an election rally and was then taken to hospital for examination.
This was reported by the ČTK and Novinky agencies, citing Martin Vodicka, the press secretary of this political force.
A woman was also reported to have been examined by doctors.
The police immediately arrested the attacker. They have previously classified the act as a violation of public order.
We recall that in July, Babis threatened that if he returns to power, he would terminate the current government's arms initiative to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
According to him, the scheme in which the Czech Republic collects funds among allies, buys shells from third, often neutral countries, and sends them to Ukraine is "rotten" and leads to "unjustified price increases". The current government has announced that 1.5 million shells were delivered under this mechanism in 2024 alone, with deliveries continuing into 2025.
Babiš, who was the Czech Republic's prime minister from 2017 to 2021, has also said he intends to cancel the purchase of F-35 fighter jets and will not support an increase in military spending above the legally established threshold of 2% of GDP.
The current Czech President, Peter Pavel, a former general and supporter of support for Ukraine, admitted in a recent interview with the BBC that he could not guarantee that the next government would maintain the current course of solidarity with Kiev. The president has mainly representative functions, but his words underscore the growing uncertainty surrounding Prague's future foreign policy orientation.