Ukraine not ready for EU – Czech election winner
Ukraine is currently not ready to become an EU member, billionaire Andrej Babis has said after his right-wing ANO party won the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election.
ANO got 34.51% of the ballots as a result of the vote on Friday and Saturday, beating the Spolu (Together) group led by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala by 11.15%. Fiala has been a staunch supporter of Kiev in its conflict with Russia.
Shortly after the preliminary results were announced on Saturday evening, Babis was asked by a journalist from the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne if he intends to support Kiev’s accession to the EU after becoming Czech prime minister again. He held the position between 2017 and 2021.
"But you are not prepared for the EU. We have to end the war first. Of course, we can cooperate with Ukraine, but you are not ready for the EU,” he replied.
The ANO party leader also doubled down on his campaign promise that Prague will stop providing direct assistance to Kiev.
"We are helping Ukraine through the EU. The EU is helping Ukraine and it is within the European budget, the next budget and we are paying a lot of money to the European budget. And this is the way we will continue to help,” he explained.
Babis again expressed skepticism regarding the ammunition initiative for Kiev which had been masterminded by Czech President Petr Pavel, saying that “nobody should make money because of the war. We should be organized by NATO.”
Kiev was granted EU candidate status a few months after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Earlier this week, Vladimir Zelensky urged an acceleration of accession talk with Brussels, telling EU leaders that “we need real progress.”
Moscow, which has categorically ruled out Ukraine’s membership in NATO, does not object to the country joining the EU due it being an economic bloc rather than a military one. “Ukraine has set itself the goal… of joining the EU. I repeat, it is Ukraine’s legitimate choice - how to build its international relations,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September.
