Czech ANO opposes second von der Leyen mandate, casts doubt on Renew membership

5 months ago 32

The populist ANO party, which won the European elections in Czechia and is also the second-largest national delegation in the Renew Europe group after France with seven seats, is opposed to Ursula von der Leyen heading the European Commission for a second term as president.

“For our part, the current European Commission president should not continue because she was the instigator of those legislations that will have a negative impact on people’s lives, and at the same time, we do not see any great success behind her,” Jaroslav Bžoch, a newly elected ANO MEP, told the Czech News Agency.

The party of former prime minister Andrej Babiš is also looking to secure significant roles in the future European Parliament.

ANO wants Klára Dostálová, the current vice-president of the Czech Chamber of Deputies and a newly elected MEP, to become vice-president of the European Parliament, Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová, another freshly elected ANO MEP, revealed on Sunday on CNN Prima News TV.

“Klára is our leader, and I think that as one of the strongest delegations, we are entitled to it. So we will definitely fight for it,” Jermanová added.

However, the question is whether ANO will want to remain in the liberal EU group as its views differ from those of the other member parties.

“The problem is that there are parties in the group with whom we have different views on migration and the Green Deal,” Babiš told Czech news site Deník.cz.

“Let’s see if we can stay there,” he added, stressing that negotiations are ongoing and that the priority for ANO is to implement its election manifesto, which focuses mostly on revising the EU’s Green Deal and the Migration and Asylum Pact.

For Renew Europe, losing ANO would mean losing its position as the third strongest group in the European Parliament.

(Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)