A successful European Ukraine poses an existential threat to the Putin regime. This is why Moscow has spent years directing its information resources to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians in the European media.
In this context, elections are a particularly vulnerable period in the information sphere, characterized by an acceleration of the dynamics of news and media content on socially and politically significant topics.
One of the key EU countries holding crucial elections in 2025 is the Czech Republic.
For Ukraine, Prague’s support in military and politico-diplomatic spheres remains critically important amid the ongoing war. At the same time, the main intrigue of the Czech parliamentary elections in October is the possible return to power of Andrej Babiš, who served as the country’s Prime Minister from 2017 to 2021.
During the 2023 Czech presidential elections, Babiš portrayed his main opponent, military officer Petr Pavel, as a “candidate of war.” It is likely that in the upcoming parliamentary campaign this autumn, Babiš’s ANO party will once again invoke the issue of support for Ukraine.
Such rhetoric can damage the image of a European Ukraine in the Czech information space.
In this context, we spoke with Pavel Havlíček, Research Fellow at the Association for International Affairs (Czech Republic).
Topics of the interview:
- The main anti-Ukrainian narratives in the rhetoric of political parties and influential politicians.
- If Czech military personnel will be deployed on Ukrainian territory after the signing of a peace agreement, what impact would this development have on support for Ukraine?
- The attitude towards Ukrainians living in the Czech Republic changed since 2022.
- Possible impact of disinformation on the 2025 Czech elections.
- Reasons behind the raise of ANO party popularity.
The interveiw was compiled with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.