Czech Radio | Babiš will be seen as a pro-Russian politician due to his faction in the European Parliament

ANO movement leader Andrej Babiš recently co-founded a new group in the European Parliament with Viktor Orbán. Patriots for Europe, considered an extreme right-wing bloc, now include parties of Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders among others. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala labeled it as pro-Russian oriented. Viktor Daněk, Deputy Director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented on Babiš's actions for Czech Radio.

In the case of Marine Le Pen and others, it is clear that they have long-standing ties to Russia. The majority of members in Babiš's new group are pro-Russian, so I am concerned that Andrej Babiš will be perceived from the outside as a pro-Russian politician because he joined a pro-Russian group. His opinions are often pro-Russian, but he has never been a pro-Russian politician.

You can read the full interview here.

Viktor Daněk
Deputy Director

Before entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.