Any possible future referendum will exclude questions about Czechia’s geopolitical alignment, ANO deputy chairman says.
The future government coalition of the Czech Republic pledged the country’s continued membership in the EU and NATO on Friday.
The upcoming coalition of the ANO party, the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party and the Motorists’ Party agreed to clearly affirm Czechia’s membership in the EU and NATO in a policy statement.
ANO deputy chairman Karel Havlicek noted that any future referendum will exclude questions about Czechia’s geopolitical alignment.
Motorists’ lawmaker Filip Turek, who is seen as the coalition’s possible foreign minister, pointed to strong transatlantic relations, including with the US.
President Petr Pavel, who by law appoints prime ministers and ministers, has urged parties not to rush talks. He and Babis will meet on Monday for an update.
Parliament meets on November 3. The first session will elect a new speaker before the resignation of the current cabinet, the earliest time a new prime minister can be appointed.
Babis, a Donald Trump fan and ally of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, has flagged more focus on domestic and EU affairs and no support for Ukraine from the national budget, a change from the outgoing centre-right government of Petr Fiala.
It might scrap a foreign-funded program shipping artillery ammunition to Kyiv, which Pavel and Fiala have championed. Babis has called it overpriced and non-transparent.
In the last parliamentary election, held Oct. 3-4, Andrej Babis’ ANO topped the polls with about 34.7% of the vote, comfortably ahead of the governing center-right Spolu coalition, which secured around 23.2%.
