On October 3-4, Czech voters made their choice. The "Dissatisfied Citizens' Action Party" led by former Prime Minister babis ranked first with 34.7% of the votes, while the current center-right government only won about 23% of the votes.

The core issue of this election is straightforward, whether to continue unconditional aid to Ukraine.

Babis has repeatedly emphasized one thing in the campaign: if he wins, he will immediately end the Czech plans to "assemble millions of cannons for Ukraine."

This project, led by the current government, has so far delivered more than 1.5 million ammunition to Ukraine, and after the ballot polls, Czech foreign policy has gone to basically clear.

Speaking of the Czech artillery shell initiative, we have to start last year. In February 2024, Czech President Peter Pavel stated that the Czech Republic had identified the sources of 500,000 155mm artillery shells and 300,000 122mm artillery shells "outside the EU."

At that time, Ukraine had a severe shortage of artillery on the battlefield, and Western countries could not keep up with the production capacity, and the Czech government thought of a way to send people to the world to find the goods.

Soon after the news was released, ¡°more than a dozen countries¡± joined the project and ¡°donated millions of dollars.¡±

So far, the Czech side has been supported by ¡°nearly 20 other allies,¡± including Canada, Germany, France, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, etc. The money has been put together by countries and the cannon is being sought by the Czech Republic. Belgium has raised 200 million euros, the Netherlands has raised 2,5 million euros, and Germany has raised a maximum of 5,4 million euros.

But Babiš is not accustomed to this practice.He himself is a businessman, and has accumulated $4.3 billion in households from agricultural business.He repeatedly said during the campaign that the Czech people's own livelihoods problems were not solved well, and why spending so much money abroad.

The main demands of Babis's campaign include tax cuts, higher salaries and pensions, and stopping military aid to Ukraine. These promises have a good market with ordinary voters, especially in the current economic downturn.

After the election results, the situation became complicated. According to the official vote count, the "Dissatisfied Citizens Action" party won 80 seats, while the "Together" coalition, a member of the ruling coalition, won slightly more than 23% of the votes and won 52 seats.

There are a total of 200 seats in the Czech parliament. According to Czech law, because the "Dissatisfied Citizen Action" party does not have more than half, it can't govern alone, and it will form a cabinet jointly with other political parties.

Babis said that he would seek a one-party cabinet, but would start cabinet negotiations with two other small political parties, including the far-right Freedom and Direct Democratic Party.

The current prime minister¡¯s attitude on Fiorella¡¯s side was tough and firmly refused to cooperate with Babiš. Babiš responded that working with Fiorella¡¯s ruling coalition ¡°may get him annoyed.¡±

The election has been tense on the EU side, with European politicians worried that the Czech opposition movement, led by Andrei Babis, will win the Czech parliamentary elections, fearing its leaders will become the EU¡¯s ¡°destructive figure¡± alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Hungary and Slovakia have not been very cooperative on the issue of aiding Ukraine in the past two years, and now the Czech Republic may have to join this team.

Czech President Pavel is a soldier. He once served as the chairman of the NATO Military Committee and firmly supports Ukraine. But in the Czech political system, the Prime Minister is the one who actually holds the executive power. Pavel can express his dissatisfaction, but he can't stop the results of the parliamentary elections.

If the Babiš government succeeds, the new government will adjust the Czech domestic foreign policy, pay more attention to domestic livelihoods, disagree with the EU on policies such as immigration, climate change, and potentially reduce military aid to Ukraine.

The word "reduction" is used very cautiously. After all, the Czech Republic is unlikely to completely cut off aid to Ukraine, but that all-out posture will definitely change.

Behind this election, the real demands of the Czech people are working.Inflation has been severe in the Czech Republic over the past few years, the pressure on people¡¯s livelihoods has been high, and the people want the government to spend money on themselves rather than aid abroad.

Babiš grabbed this point, and the election strategy was successful.The Fidela government has won western praise on the Ukrainian issue, but has not gained much in the domestic voters.

From a larger perspective, the Czech elections are a miniature of the differences within Europe.Western European countries are still emphasizing solidarity with Ukraine, but some countries in Central and Eastern Europe have turned their minds.

Slovakia elected a government that was reluctant to aid Ukraine last year, and now the Czech Republic is embarking on a similar path. Hungary has been a pioneer on this road. If these three Central European countries form a small group within the EU, it will have a considerable impact on decision-making in Brussels.

The dust of the Czech election has settled, and policy adjustments are inevitable. Europe's aid to Ukraine will not be suspended because of the Czech Republic alone, but it is an obvious fact that the originally monolithic support camp has cracked.

The public opinion will change, and the policy will adjust in the coming months, depending on whether Babis will be able to organize the cabinet smoothly, and to what extent the new government will adjust the Ukrainian policy.