Czech EU elections: turnout high, ANO wins, opposition parties gain

The centre-right ANO party of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, as expected, won the European Parliament elections.

ANO got 21.2% of the vote (6 seats), the Civic Democrats 14.5% (4 seats), the Pirates 13.95% (3 seats), the alliance between TOP 09 and Mayors and Independents 11.6% (3 seats), and the Christian Democrats 7.2% (2 seats).

The far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy got 9.1% (2 seats) and the largely unreformed Communists 6.9% (1 seat).

ANO's coalition partner, the left-leaning Social Democrats, failed to gain a mandate.

Competing for the 21 mandates were a record 40 parties and movements fielded in total 841 candidates in the Czech Republic. According to the Czech Statistical Office, turnout was 28.7 percent, up from 18.2 percent five years ago.

In the EU as a whole, turnout was above 50 percent, preliminary results show.

Author: Brian Kenety