CZEXIT puts Brussels on alert: Anti-EU party surge threatens to TOPPLE Czech leadership
MOUNTING eurosceptic pressure in the Czech Republic has threatened to bring down the caretaker government and trigger fresh elections, amid a resurgent anti-EU party that has called for a referendum on bloc membership.
By OLI SMITH
Express.co.uk
Sat, Apr 21, 2018
The Czech Republic is one of the most eurosceptic countries in the EU, and political parties are using the country’s discomfort with the bloc to push for a shock Czexit referendum.
Only a quarter of the Czech population supports the European Union, and the most recent election saw an anti-EU party, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), surge in the polls.
The SPD party made surprising gains in parliamentary elections last October with calls for direct democracy and is pushing referendum legislation.
Since then, the country has struggled to form a fully-fledged government, as the election gave the centrist ANO party a victory without a majority.
ANO first attempted to rule as a minority government but, after a no-confidence vote in January, Prime Minister Andrej Babis has been trying to form a coalition.
Mr Babis held talks with the eurosceptic parties but talks broke down over their referendum demands.
The Czech Prime Minister later tried to shut down questions around an EU referendum by passing a law increasing the number of signatures required to trigger a vote.
Mr Babis is now in talks with the centre-left party the Social Democrats, but even this coalition would not be enough to rule as a majority government.
The growing eurosceptic sentiment in the country and deadlocked talks has raised the possibilities of fresh elections.
The prospect of such a vote was raised in the past by President Miloš Zeman, who was re-elected in January.
One Czech voter told German broadcaster DW this week: “We are in the EU, I don’t know what it is worth though.”
Another said: “I don’t think it’s good. It’s better for us to leave the EU.”
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