ANO EU elections lead candidate to oppose Green Deal

1 year ago 67

Klára Dostálová, future leader of the ANO party (Renew affiliated) candidate list for the 2024 EU elections, promises to fight against the Green Deal and protect member states’ sovereignty, ANO movement chairman and former prime minister Andrej Babiš told the media.

Dostálová is a former regional development minister and current deputy speaker of the lower chamber of parliament. Her views mimic Babiš’s populist statements, which often target EU policies.

“I am convinced that she is the best person to fight for the interests of citizens in the European Parliament,” Babiš said. He also said the movement would like to defend the six seats it won in the 2019 elections.

“What is absolutely crucial for us is the right to veto. We must realise that the right to veto puts all member states on an equal footing. If we were to lose veto, we could become a second-class country because the big countries with more representation could agree and outvote the small countries on important issues,” Dostálová said, adding that in the European Parliament, she wants to protect Czech sovereignty.

Among the top priorities for EU elections, she emphasised the need to “reopen the Green Deal”. “Unfortunately, the Green ideology is already beyond the pale,” Dostálová said.

The ANO Party also wants to address irregular migration and make the asylum and migration policy stricter.

ANO’s candidate in 2019 was led by Dita Charanzová, the current vice-president of the European Parliament. However, she no longer wants to run for ANO because of differences of opinion with the party leadership.

In recent years, ANO has begun to deviate from liberal values, which some members of the pan-European liberal party ALDE have also pointed out. As Euractiv Czechia learnt, there are also voices in the ANO that question whether the party should remain in the liberal Renew group.

The ANO movement now has six seats in the EU Parliament. According to polls, it is the most popular political party, with more than 30% support.

(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)