ANO wins European Parliament elections

Andrej Babiš's ANO party has won the largest share of the vote in the European Parliament elections with 26.14 percent and has gained seven of Czechia's 21 seats in the assembly. Government coalition leaders SPOLU (Together) came second with 22.27 percent and gained six seats.

Opposition party ANO were the overall winners in the European Parliament elections in Czechia this year when the results were announced shortly after 11pm on Sunday. They beat the Together coalition made up of the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and TOP 09 and won seven seats - one more than they gained five years ago in the last European elections. Meanwhile, the Together coalition only gained six seats, two fewer than last time.

These two leading parties and coalitions were followed by the coalition of Oath and Motorists, who have no representation in the Czech parliament but will be sending two MEPs to Brussels, having won 10.26 percent of the vote. Coming in fourth was Stačilo! (Enough), a left-wing political coalition headed by the Communist Party, with 9.56 percent and two MEPs.

The Mayors and Independents (STAN) will similarly be sending two MEPS to Brussels, one of whom is former presidential candidate Danuše Nerudová, with an 8.7 percent share of the vote. Behind them is the Pirate party with 6.2 percent; they will only be sending one MEP, Marketa Gregorová, to Brussels.

The final party to cross the five percent threshold needed in Czechia to gain representation in the European Parliament was the coalition of the Tricolour party and Freedom and Direct Democracy. They won a 5.73 percent share of the vote and one seat in the assembly.

The youngest MEP to win a seat is the Pirate party's Markéta Gregorová at 31 years old; the oldest Ivan David from the Freedom and Direct Democracy party at 71.

Voter turnout was the highest since the Czech Republic joined the EU. Some 36.45 percent of eligible voters in Czechia went to the polls this year, with an over 30 percent turnout in all regions of the country. The highest turnout was in Prague with 42.58 percent; the lowest in the Karlovy Vary region with 30.21 percent.