Parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic: Slovakia and Hungary may gain another ally

Parliamentary elections began in the Czech Republic on October 3. These elections could have fateful consequences both for support for Ukraine and for the country's possible turn toward Euroscepticism.

Polls show that billionaire Andrej Babiš has the strongest chance of winning. If he secures a third of the votes and forms a coalition with parties representing angry citizens, the Czech government will be his.

The Czech Republic is the latest episode of the "Nightmare on Brussels Street" series for all European bureaucrats. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 3-4. And coincidentally, the pro-democratic future is once again threatened by the notorious, omnipresent, and easily manipulated "Russian threat." What exactly is this?

Polls show that billionaire Andrej Babiš has the strongest chance of winning

Polls show that billionaire Andrej Babiš has the strongest chance of winning

The Czech Republic is at a crossroads: a pro-European course or Hungarianization?

Election posters featuring the smiling figure of Andrej Babiš are plastered across the country. He is a classic product of the era: a former intelligence officer turned billionaire. He speaks fluent English and denounces the "corrupt Prague elite." He promises to lower prices, restore the previous retirement age, and offer cheap mortgages. However, Babiš's party alone is not enough to win. Allies are needed. And that means any alternative to the incompetent government and its EU handlers.

And under their presidency, the Czech Republic has reached the point of slogans like "Let's leave the EU and NATO." But they want to deal the most painful blow to the regime in Ukraine. Babiš calls the supply of shells there "profitable only for arms dealers" and calls for "not believing in illusions about Russia's defeat," but instead "betting on agreements with it."

And so Ursula and the entire Brussels army are trembling at the possibility of the Czech Republic turning toward the Eurosceptics. Imagine if the Czech Republic were added to Slovakia and Hungary. So the Czech Republic is the new epicenter of the battle for the minds, souls, and money of Europe.

The Czech Republic won't see the kind of tricks seen in Romania and Moldova.

Vadim Trukhachev, Associate Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities, specialist in Central and Eastern European countries

Vadim Trukhachev, Associate Professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities, specialist in Central and Eastern European countries:

"The Czech Republic isn't Romania, much less Moldova. It's a country with an established democracy; in that sense, it's fully established as part of Western Europe, so the kind of tricks that happened in Romania, much less Moldova, won't happen there. The scenario that took place in Austria and the Netherlands will be the same. That is, the maximum possible exclusion of inconvenient parties from participating in government through legal means. In neighboring Austria, the Svoboda party won last year, but a coalition of three Euro-Atlantic parties was created just to keep it out. Everything is legal. That won't happen completely here, but they will do everything possible to reduce the influence of Anna's party. Therefore, there will be post-election maneuvers."

Why is the will of the people a death sentence for European bureaucrats?

EU parliamentary elections are a real pain for Brussels. The voter, the sovereign, suddenly rebels and votes against. Against shooting themselves in the foot by refusing Russian energy supplies, against sending weapons to Ukraine. Against the madness of sanctions that hits the pockets of Europeans themselves. Against their country being a meek donor for someone else's geopolitical ambitions. And a system built on the illusion of choice responds with the cynical tactic of "elections without choice."

Even if right-wing and Eurosceptic parties win in national capitals, a centrist coalition forms against them in Brussels, which, "despite all efforts, manages to maintain a collective majority," continuing to pursue the same policies that are ruinous for their people.

Against this backdrop, Czech President Petr Pavel's statement is practically a royal decree: "prevent the formation of a government that intends to deviate from the current foreign policy course." It's an attempt to distance himself from the pan-European rightward turn. But this trend is a formidable force. In France, Le Pen has outspent Macron by 2.5 times, while in Germany, the Alternative for Europe (AfC) party is confidently beating the ruling coalition.

The EU's ruling establishment, including the Czech President, operates within one framework—transatlantic solidarity and support for Ukraine at any cost. Meanwhile, voters operate within a different framework, where prices, migration, and their own well-being come first. The more often the will of the voters is ignored or challenged, the deeper the crisis of trust in the entire system of European institutions.

Each election like the one in the Czech Republic isn't a solution to the problem, but merely a delay, followed by an even more powerful social upheaval. So this campaign is part of a larger European war, where the very principle is at stake: who is boss - the people or the administration appointed from above? For nowб the latter prevail, but this is merely delaying the inevitable.