US election will decide Ukraine conflict – NATO state’s ex-PM

Donald Trump winning in November would be the preferred outcome for Europe, former Czech premier Andrej Babis says

The outcome of the Ukraine conflict will be decided by the upcoming US presidential election in November, former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis believes.

Speaking to the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday, Babis said that “even the EU and NATO countries are not united on how to proceed in Ukraine,” adding that the bloc should pursue peace rather than anything else.

“But let us be realistic: the US elections will decide the war in Ukraine,” Babis stated, adding that “a [Donald] Trump win would be good for Europe because he promised to end the war immediately.”

The remarks come as Babis’ ANO party secured a major win in regional elections last week, coming out on top in ten of the country’s 13 regions. On Saturday, the party also won partial elections for the Czech Senate, dealing another blow to the ruling five-party coalition led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala.

The election setbacks suffered by the ruling coalitions, as well as the internal strife it has experienced lately, including Fiala sacking his deputy and the leader of the allied Pirate Party, seem to have given Babis confidence that he will be able to return to power in the parliamentary election next October. 

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“I would say that the ruling parties have another full year to prove to the citizens of the Czech Republic that they are completely incompetent and unqualified to govern the country, as they have been demonstrating these past three years,” Babis stated.

The Czech Republic has been one of the top supporters of Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, actively supplying assorted weaponry and munitions to Kiev. Earlier this year, Prague launched an “ammunition initiative,” a multinational project to procure munitions for Ukraine.

Earlier this week, however, German media reported that some of the munitions procured under the initiative turned out to be defective, detonating shortly after leaving the barrel and exhibiting otherwise dangerous properties. Prague has acknowledged the issue but insists that the number of “isolated” incidents with the faulty munitions remained “small.” 

“We know that we are purchasing not only new ammunition but also old stocks, which may have potential issues,” Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said.