A total of 30 candidates applied for the elections. Public opinion polls have long attributed the greatest electoral chances to the ANO movement, the Spolu coalition, the SPD and the Tricolors, the STAN movement and the Pirates. According to some, even the Priesahy and Motorists coalition or the Stačilo coalition are approaching the five percent threshold.
Apart from STAN and the Pirates, according to political scientists, these are almost exclusively Eurosceptic groups. Even the voters themselves are critical of the Union. “And that’s mainly because of the bureaucratic measures that we have to implement because of the European Union,” noted political scientist Jan Bureš.
“There has been an atmosphere in society that the Green Deal policy is responsible for part of the problems related to the rise in energy prices and rising prices. The public sees the high prices of energy and food, the unavailability of cars and the high prices of electric cars as serious problems,” explains Bureš.
Vondra and Dostálová agreed that the ban on internal combustion engines can be abolished by the new European Parliament
Homemade
Therefore, politicians began to compete with claims that the Union needs to reform. With such an idea, ANO is also running for the Spolu coalition, which wants to compete for first place in the elections. “Both subjects are critical of the policy of the European Commission,” says the political scientist.
Altogether not very radical and not very pro-European
But while ANO’s tactics of criticizing the Union may work, Spolu may fail with voters. “To critics of the Union, Spolu’s candidates are not too radical, and to supporters of the Union, they are not too pro-European,” thinks Bureš.
He reminded that while the leader of the Spolu candidate is the Eurocritic Alexandr Vondra (ODS), the three and four are the Eurooptimists Luděk Niedermayer (TOP 09) and Tomáš Zdechovský (KDU-ČSL).
Political scientist Lukáš Valeš views the matter similarly. “Candidate Spolu is nonsense. If ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL ran separately, they have a chance to get more percentages. This is a project for internal Czech politics. “Voting together does not mean speaking about European issues, but expressing support for the government,” he noted.
According to him, the European elections will to some extent be a referendum on the government of Petr Fiala (ODS). According to him, mainly those voters who are satisfied with her will vote together. However, according to surveys, they are not the majority.
SPD wants to suck out ODS voters in the European elections
Euro elections
But even over ANO, his voters may hesitate. As Valeš reminded, while he now vehemently criticizes the Union movement, until now his elected MEPs have been rather loyal to it.
“At the same time, voters see that the European structure of institutions complicates their lives. It prohibits them from using internal combustion engines, makes the purchase of a whole range of goods more expensive,” noted Valeš.
By April 20, the Ministry of the Interior will decide which groups have met all requirements. For the last elections to the European Parliament five years ago, 40 groups applied, including six coalitions. 39 of them were admitted to the elections. One of the parties did not pay a contribution to cover election expenses in the amount of 15 thousand crowns.
Elections are held on June 7 and 8, and in some European countries, elections will be held on June 9. Czechs elect 21 MEPs out of a total of 720 MEPs. In September, MEPs approved the decision of the European Council to increase the number of seats in the European Parliament for the 2024 to 2029 electoral period by 15, i.e. from the current 705 to 720. However, the Czech Republic will not be affected by the change.
Together and the SPD are not betting on women. Candidates for Europe are dominated by men
Euro elections
