Czechs will cast ballots on Friday and Saturday in a general election which the party of self-described “Trumpist” Andrej Babis is expected to top, though without getting a majority.
A possible return to power of the billionaire ex-premier could draw the Czech Republic — an ally of Ukraine — closer to EU mavericks Hungary and Slovakia, spelling rocky relations with both Kyiv and Brussels.
But even if Babis’s ANO (“Yes”) party tops the vote, it will almost certainly have to negotiate a coalition or backing from other parties.
Babis is campaigning in the EU and NATO member of around 11 million people on pledges of welfare and halting military aid to Ukraine.
The current centre-right coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala has provided extensive humanitarian and military aid to