Czech President Petr Pavel on 12 November, during a meeting with the election winner and ANO Movement leader Andrej Babiš, called for the government’s programme to be supplemented with a clause on the position on the Russian war against Ukraine and to include commitments to increase defence spending and fulfil allied responsibilities within NATO.
Another demand was to address the issue of conflict of interest. Babiš’s conflict of interest as a possible prime minister is that he is the owner of the Agrofert holding company, which receives state orders.
Andrej Babiš said he would act “in accordance with the position of the Czech courts and the European Commission”.
He did not explain how he would respond to other calls from the president.
“I will inform the coalition partners of his opinion, we will probably add some wording in this regard or not,” the politician commented. Andrej Babiš previously promised to cancel the Czech shell initiative to supply Ukraine with artillery ammunition. He recently softened his rhetoric and said that it could be dealt with at the NATO level.
Leaders of the three right-wing and populist parties that won Czech elections in October signed an agreement on 3 November to form a governing coalition. In contrast to international and security policy, the Czech president on 12 November praised their plans for health care and support for the country’s weaker regions.