According to a Russian website, Babiš's election victory could weaken the unity of the Union

The Russian portal aif.ru responded to the results of the Czech parliamentary elections with the headline: “Is the Warsaw Pact alive? The elections in the Czech Republic were won by a ‘Kremlin agent’.” In their opinion, Andrej Babiš's success could weaken the unity of the European Union, especially with regard to support for Ukraine.

According to Russian analyst Artem Sokolov from the MGIMO Institute of International Studies of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Babiš's campaign rhetoric, including his demands to end military and financial aid to Kyiv, fits in with the policies of Hungary and Slovakia.

In his opinion, Babiš exploited the rejection of long-term support for Ukraine by part of the public by calling the Czechia's purchase of ammunition for Kyiv a “corrupt project” and calling for the return of Ukrainian refugees after the war. According to the website cited, this was enough for the West to label him an “agent of the Kremlin.”

However, Sokolov pointed out in the same breath that the Czech Republic's influence on the Union's decisions remains limited. “Small Eastern European countries still have only limited influence on processes within the European Union, where France, Germany, Italy, and even the Benelux countries play a leading role due to their economic weight,” he noted.

Nevertheless, in his opinion, the victory of the ANO movement shows an increase in the differences between Western and Eastern Europe, reminiscent of the time of the Warsaw Pact.

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