Andrej Babis's ANO party cruised to victory in the Czech Republic's parliamentary election

Leader of ANO party Andrej Babis gestures as he reacts to the preliminary results of the parliamentary election, in Prague, Czech Republic, October 4, 2025.
Photo: Reuters

Billionaire Andrej Babis's ANO party cruised to victory in the Czech Republic's parliamentary election on Saturday, raising the prospect of a government that would boost Europe's populist, anti-immigration camp and reduce support for Ukraine, Reuters reports.

An ebullient Babis told supporters that ANO would seek a one-party cabinet but would talk with two small parties - including the far-right SPD - for support as his party will lack an outright majority.

With nearly all results in, ANO was set to replace the current centre-right cabinet led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Fiala congratulated Babis and conceded defeat.

ANO promised faster growth, higher wages and pensions, and lower taxes and tax discounts for students and young families during the campaign.

Those pledges – that will cost billions of euros, end austerity and test the country's frugal mindset – resonated with many Czechs who have seen their real incomes plunge in recent years as the country tackled soaring inflation.

President Petr Pavel, who will appoint the next prime minister, was expected to start talks with party leaders on Sunday.

ANO was seen winning around 80 seats in the 200-seat lower house, results projections showed, and so will need to find wider support.

Babis said he would talk to the Motorists, who oppose the EU's Green policies, and the anti-EU and anti-NATO SPD.

Babis, who led a centre-left cabinet in 2017-2021, once wanted to join the euro but has since become a eurosceptic and a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, handing out "Strong Czechia" baseball caps inspired by Trump's MAGA slogan.

An ally of Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, Babis has teamed up with a number of far-right parties in the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament to challenge the mainstream direction of Europe's policies, including decarbonisation.

He has rejected calls from SPD to hold a referendum on leaving the EU and NATO, but has said he would end the "Czech initiative" that has bought millions of artillery rounds from around the world for Ukraine with funding from Western donors.

A win for the 71-year-old businessman would mirror the rise of populists across Europe and may embolden similar voices in other member states, adding to centrifugal tendencies in European politics, Reuters noted before the vote.

"There will be a shift in the distribution of power... and common decisions in multiple concrete policies such as defence, migration, and economy will be even harder to reach," said Vladimir Bilcik, senior fellow at Globsec think tank and former Slovak member of the European Parliament.

Babis, who has built an empire of farming, food processing and chemicals firms that make him one of the nation's richest men, will bring Czechs closer to Orban and populist Slovak leader Robert Fico.

"We saw already in previous years that he was more and more inclined towards Orban. This will become even stronger," said Viktor Danek, executive deputy director at Europeum think tank.

On Ukraine, though not as pro-Russian as Orban and Fico, Babis will likely break from the current government which was among the first to send military aid and set up the "Czech initiative" to supply Western-funded artillery ammunition.

Babis wants to end the ammunition scheme.

He has also sniped at costs of helping Ukrainian refugees and said last year, in the context of farming competition, that he hoped Ukraine would not join the EU.

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