Europeupdated 1h ago2 min read
Pro-Western Opposition Wins Big In Czech Senate, Blows To PM Andrej Babiš Coalition
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Pro-Western opposition wins big, ANO fails to win any Senate seats. STAN and ODS secure key gains, strengthening opposition majority.
6 outlets told this the same way.
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Czech Senate setback
Pro-Western opposition parties won big in the Czech Republic’s Senate elections, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ruling coalition. The election filled one-third of the seats in the 81-seat Senate, with 27 seats up for grabs in the two-round vote.
The centrist ANO (or YES) movement led by the populist billionaire failed to win a single seat, and the opposition retained control of the upper house. The Senate election results came as the first test for Babiš since he returned to power after a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in October 2025, and his coalition partners also ended up empty-handed in the ballot.
Babiš calls it catastrophic
Andrej Babiš described the outcome as "catastrophic," while the opposition secured the largest number of votes in the Senate elections and his party did not win any of the seats it sought. The European Interest framed the result as an electoral collapse for Babiš’s far-right government, saying ANO won no seats in the second round while the Mayors and Independents and the Civic Democratic Party achieved notable success.
The European Interest reported that the Mayors and Independents (STAN) won 10 of the 14 seats it targeted, including two it won directly in the first round, and the Civic Democratic Party secured seven Senate seats. The European Interest also said voter turnout in the second round reached a quarter of the electorate before the polling stations closed.
Ukraine and EU policy
The ABC News account said Babiš formed a governing coalition with two small political groups whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies. The El País account said the government ended the state's direct military support to Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia and questioned the European Union's climate policies.
The European Interest said Babiš’s foreign policy shifted away from supporting Ukraine and rejected several EU policies, and it added that the government halted support for Ukraine. The ABC News account said the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges, even as the lower house dominates the legislative process.