Czechia’s likely next prime minister Andrej Babiš may act as a “puppet” of Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán at the European leaders’ table, harming the country’s standing on the world stage, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský.
Babiš, a populist tycoon who was reelected earlier this month but has yet to form a government, stated after his victory that he would not be seeking confrontation with the European Union.
But for Lipavský, who’s part of Czechia’s outgoing government, the likely incoming prime minister is set to follow in the footsteps of his political ally Orbán, who is at odds with Brussels and the EU mainstream on everything from the rule of law to support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Babiš “will not behave like [an]Orbán figure,” Lipavský said in an interview with POLITICO ahead of a gathering of European leaders on Thursday. “He will behave like Orbán’s puppet. That’s a big difference. To behave like Orbán and be someone’s puppet. And he will be all about [being a] puppet.”
Babiš won’t be at the European Council gathering, where Czechia will be represented by outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Babiš is negotiating with two right-wing parties to form a government and, according to a person aware of his thinking,intends to make debut at an upcoming European leaders’ summit in December.
When Babiš does return, Lipavský warned, he could be under the influence of two hard-right parties at home — which he described as “MAGA style” and resembling the far-right Alternative for Germany party — and was likely to be acting in concert with Orbán as part of a “Visegrad” coalition.
“I feel that Andrej Babiš … is living in his dream of strong leader banging with shoe to the table, saying no, vetoing things and [pretending to bring] back some benefits from Europe to to Czechia. But the real European politics do not work this way,” Lipavský said in the interview, which took place on the sidelines of a foreign ministers’ gathering in Luxembourg.
In the past few years, Czechia has been one of Ukraine’s most vocal supporters on the EU stage, launching an ammunition scheme which has pooled resources from across the bloc to deliver more than 3 million shells to Kyiv. Prague has also taken some of Europe’s toughest measures to limit the movements of Russian diplomats in and out of the country.
But this stance was likely to change under Babis in a way that would negatively affect Czechia’s reputation among countries opposed to Russia, said Lipavský.
“I am very pessimistic that Czechia will keep its place on the world stage in terms of support to Ukraine, because he’s [Babiš] is criticizing the ammunition initiative,” said the foreign minister. He’s saying that he will not provide any new money for Ukraine,” he added.
He went on: “It’s difficult to say what will be the final platform of the new government, but I’m afraid that it will destroy our international reputation because of anti-Ukrainian statements.”
Babiš’s populist style of politics has won him comparisons to U.S. President Donald Trump. His ally, Orbán, has often touted his special ties to the United States as proof that Hungary’s go-it-alone European policy is working.
For Lipavský, however, the chances of a rapprochement between Czechia and Washington under Babiš were slim due to his reluctance to spend more on defense — a key demand of Trump for his European NATO allies.
“Babiš attacks, for example, the procurement of [U.S.-made] F-35, the best plane in the world. We are procuring it and he wants to give it away,” said Lipavský.
“He’s promised so many things to people like on social welfare. And the only source is debt or money, which our government has put into increasing military expenditure,” he went on.
“Donald Trump is saying: ‘Spend more money on defense.’ What will Andrej Babiš do? Most likely spend less money on defense.”
“I don’t see that it will help to the relationship with the USA. It will do the otherwise. We will be perceived maybe like Spain in that way.”