ANO wins one third of Czech seats in EP elections

Andrej Babiš's ANO party won this year's European Parliament elections in Czechia with a 26.14 percent share of the vote, gaining seven of the country's 21 seats in the assembly - one more than they got in the last European elections in 2019. Government coalition leaders SPOLU (Together) came second with 22.27 percent and six seats, two fewer than they got last time.

The coalition of Oath and Motorists came third with 10.26 percent, left-wing coalition Stačilo! (Enough) fourth with 9.56 percent, and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) fifth with 8.7 percent. Each of these three parties will be sending two MEPs to represent them in Brussels.

The Pirate Party came in sixth with 6.2 percent, down from 13.95 percent in 2019, and will have only one MEP, losing two of their three seats from last time. Behind them was the coalition of the Tricolour party and Freedom and Direct Democracy, also winning one seat in the assembly and a 5.73 percent share of the vote.

The election results were announced shortly after 11pm on Sunday, once voting had closed in all EU member states. Voter turnout this year was the highest since the Czech Republic joined the EU, with 36.45 percent of eligible voters in Czechia going to the polls.