Page 9 - CE Outlook Regions 2022

Democrats, says that his government faces the biggest crisis in the
country's modern history.

Fiala´s new government has been welcomed with relief in Brussels,
which is already struggling to cope with radical rightwing
governments in neighbouring Poland and Hungary with whom Babis
was increasingly allying himself. Nevertheless, the new government
is seen to have many in-built weaknesses. One of the most
worrying, according to analysts, is that it is a coalition of five parties
ranging from the Eurosceptic rightwing Civil Democrats, which is in
the same group in the European Parliament as Poland’s Law and
Justice party, to the socially liberal and pro-EU Pirate party.

After the Pirates’ poor electoral result, there has also been
speculation that the party would quit the coalition well before the
next election, frustrated with having to cooperate with the other four
more rightwing parties, particularly the Eurosceptic Civic
Democrasts.

The Civic Democrats and Pirates have had fundamental differences
in their policies and priorities, particularly in tax policy, the role of the
Visegrad Group, adopting the euro and climate change policy.

In the second half of 2022, Czechia is to take over the rotating
presidency of the EU Council for the second time, with the
government's priorities focused on development of the EU's internal
market, security of Europe, digitisation, development of modern
technologies, sustainability and social cohesion. The budget for the
EU presidency was approved at CZK1.44bn.

In autumn 2022, Czechia will also hold municipal elections, including
that of the capital Prague, which is currently led by the Pirate party
in coalition with STAN, TOP09 and Praha Sobe, and Senate
elections in which one-third of seats will be contested. Fiala has
called on his coalition partners TOP09 and Christian Democrats to
continue their successful cooperation in next year's municipal and
Senate elections. The leader of the STAN party Vit Rakusan has
expressed an interest in partnering with TOP09.

The year 2022 will be marked by the presidential campaign before
the Czech presidential election, which is to be held from January
until March 2023. The former PM and agro-chemical billionaire
Andrej Babis has already hinted after losing the general election in
October 2021 that he would stand for president when his ally and
current President Milos Zeman’s mandate ends on March 8, 2023.

At the end of 2021, Babis already started with approaching voters of
his left-wing erstwhile partners, the Social Democrats, as well as the
Communists and the Oath party of Robert Slachta (which all failed to

9 CE Outlook 2022 www.intellinews.com