Czechs Ratify New Government That Vows to Repair Ties With EU

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech government won confirmation from lawmakers three months after elections, promising to repair relations with the European Union bruised by conflict-of-interest tussles over the former prime minister’s business empire.

The confidence vote on Thursday completed the transfer of power after a coalition of five center-right parties won a majority in October and ousted billionaire leader Andrej Babis.

The new cabinet wants to deepen ties with Western partners in the EU and NATO, including France and Germany, to pursue its economic agenda, as well as boost defense spending to strengthen national security.

The country of 10.7 million people is trying to recalibrate its foreign policy after four years of clashes between Babis and Brussels that centered around his companies, which receive funds from an EU budget that he had helped design. The tycoon has called the bloc’s conflict-of-interest probes political attacks orchestrated by his rivals.

Read More: Czech Parties Seal Coalition Pact to End Billionaire’s Rule 

One of the goals is to use the rotating EU presidency, which the Czechs will hold in the second half of the year, to improve the country’s image abroad, according to Prime Minister Petr Fiala. 

It will be a “unique opportunity to regain a reputation on the international level as a reliable and respected partner,” he told lawmakers before the vote.

Another policy shift relates to EU’s clashes over the rule of law and democratic standards with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who counted Babis as one of his closest allies.

Prague’s position “will definitely be different” from that represented by Orban and another member, Poland, in their battles about issues ranging from the treatment of LGBTQ communities to the independence of judiciary, European Affairs Minister Mikulas Bek said last month.  

Parliamentary Speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova, who’s been in her post for just two months, made an unconventional appeal to Hungarian voters last weekend, urging them to oust Orban in elections later this year. 

While all ruling parties are presenting a clear pro-Western orientation, also highlighted in a pledge to ban Russian and Chinese companies from building new nuclear reactors in the country, some potential areas of friction in the EU agenda remain.

The coalition has already signaled it will try to change the bloc’s environmental plans, as it wants to shield the key Czech automotive industry from the impact of policies designed to cut carbon emissions.    

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