Czech Euroscepticism.
The right-liberal ANO 2011 party led by Andrej Babis won legislative elections last month. Its wide margin of victory owed something to its Eurosceptic discourse. Czech Euroscepticism is the product of populist mobilisation on the political right and the centre’s failure to make a positive case for EU membership. With the hard Eurosceptic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party joining the Europhobic Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) in parliament, leaving the EU is guaranteed a prominent place on the political agenda.
Moderate Czech (and Austrian) enthusiasm for deeper integration will mean that inner and outer ‘circles’ of EU membership will solidify.
A deepening split within the Visegrad Group will make opposition to EU reform difficult to sustain for Poland and Hungary.
The president has added his weight to a referendum on ‘Czexit’.
