News

The police will investigate discrepancies in vote counting at a polling station in Blansko (near Brno) during the October parliamentary elections. The case was referred to the police by a city prosecutor, the Brno City Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman announced. The criminal complaint was filed by the Supreme Administrative Court, which carried out a recount of votes in Blansko’s election district n.28 following a complaint from the Pirate Party.

Originally, the electoral commission had not credited the Pirates with any votes in the district, which one resident, who had voted for them, found suspicious. The recount showed the Pirates received 20 votes more than originally recorded, ANO 21 fewer, with minor adjustments for other parties. Although the overall election result was unaffected, there are suspicions that the errors may have been deliberate.

Outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) said that the most important element of the Czech Ministry of Defence’s agenda is that the country meets its commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence. He made the remarks at a press conference alongside outgoing Defence Minister Jana Černochová (ODS).

Fiala stressed that meeting NATO commitments is essential. He hopes the incoming ANO, SPD, and Motorists government will continue raising defence spending towards the planned 5% of GDP by 2035, as envisaged by the outgoing cabinet. The new prime minister, Andrej Babiš (ANO), has previously said these targets are unrealistic. In their policy statement, ANO, SPD and the Motorists say the defence budget should reflect the state’s current needs and the wider security situation.

Newly appointed Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen wrote in a post on X that she appreciated Babiš’s support for strengthening Europe’s competitiveness. She described the meeting as good and added that they also discussed efforts to support Ukraine on its path to peace.

Babiš also met European Council President Costa, who said he had a productive discussion with the Czech prime minister about preparations for the upcoming EU summit.

These were Babiš's first meetings with top EU officials since taking office.  His three-party cabinet will be appointed on Monday. Andrej Babiš will also represent the Czech Republic at next week’s EU summit in Brussels.

A one-year delay to the launch of ETS 2 is far from sufficient; the incoming Czech government will adopt a resolution calling for a complete withdrawal from the new emissions trading system, designated prime minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) told the Czech News Agency on Wednesday.

According to Babiš, the European Union has chosen to push its green ambitions further instead of first addressing the negative impacts of the Green Deal.

EU Council negotiators and representatives of the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on Tuesday to postpone the introduction of ETS 2 by one year, from 2027 to 2028.  The package includes a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared with 1990 levels. The changes still require formal approval by the European Parliament and EU member states.