Pro-Ukrainian Coalition Retains Majority in Czech Senate Elections

Following the re-election of one-third of the Senate (the upper house of the Czech parliament), the government coalition of five parties that supports Ukraine in its war against Russia retains a majority. 

This was reported by Novinky.

At the same time, the party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, ANO, improved its result in these elections.

According to preliminary estimates, ANO movement won a total of eight of the 27 seats in the Senate that were up for re-election in the last election - two in the first round and six in the second. This is the highest result for a single party.

In this case, ANO, together with the Social Democratic Party of the Czech Republic, will have 13 senators instead of the current 6.

According to Radio Prague, Babiš has criticised certain aspects of aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, but at the same time condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine. He also supports EU reforms and decentralisation.

At the same time, the five parties of the Czech government coalition won 15 senators, which will allow it to retain a majority in the upper house of parliament.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala's ODS party won the most seats - six, the Mayors and Independents movement got five, the Christian Democrats KDU-ČSL got two, and the liberal conservatives TOP 09 got one.

The Czech Communists, who showed good results in the regional elections as part of the left-wing bloc, failed to get their candidate into the Senate.

Instead, the far-right populist party Přísaha, whose leader Robert Schlacht won in Brzezlava and will become a senator, will enter parliament for the first time.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, after the first results of the Senate by-elections were published, already declared that the government coalition had defeated the opposition.