Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
Senior German politicians called for a stronger reaction to drone sightings over European airports, with Bavarian PM Markus Söder urging police to shoot them down (10:57) after overnight disruptions at Munich airport (9:55).
Drone sightings will be discussed during this Saturday’s meeting of EU interior ministers in Munich, which originally had been called to talk about migration, but now will include a conversation on drone defence, with German minister Alexander Dobrindt warning the EU faces “a race” between drone attacks and defences, which it “must win.” (15:25).
The issue dominates the European defence debate after drone sightings in several European countries, including significant disruptions in Denmark last week, prompting Sweden to urge the EU to simplify its procurement standards (12:45).
During German celebrations of the 35th anniversary of its reunification in 1990 (10:11), with chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a call for “renewed unity” amid growing challenges the country faces (14:30).
Elsewhere,
Voters in the Czech Republic go to the polls today and tomorrow in what protagonists and analysts describe as a pivotal parliamentary election that could lead to clashes with the EU on issues from migration to climate policy (14:06).
Populist billionaire and former prime minister Andrej Babiš is on the brink of making a comeback, signalling potential changes in Prague’s policy towards Ukraine, among other things – but his win is not certain (16:02, 16:38).
The polling stations are open until 10pm local time tonight, and will reopen again tomorrow from 8am to 2pm local time (1pm BST), with results expected this weekend.
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Czechs split over where possible return of ‘Trumpist’ Babiš could lead
in Prague
What worries critics and observers at home and abroad, however, is where Andrej Babiš’s catch-all, populist promises may take him now; whether, like the US president whose style (if not policies) he so appreciates, his second term may make his first look tame.
Days before an election that the outgoing centre-right prime minister, Petr Fiala, has warned could determine whether the Czech Republic “remains firmly part of the west, or drifts off toward the east”, some are sure the worst is yet to come.
“It certainly looks like [Babiš is] going to win. We only hope he won’t be able to form a government,” said Venuše Rýdl, 68, a voter in the Prague suburb of Modřany, who was unpersuaded by Babiš’s promises to cut taxes, cap energy prices and lower the pension age.
Her husband, Rudolf, 70, agreed. “We don’t believe Babiš, and we don’t trust him,” he said. “He’s a populist and he’s out for himself. He showed it last time he was in government – why would this time be different? He would be bad for the country.”
If the polls are to be believed, however, many do not share their pessimism. Jan, a smart 76-year-old former small business owner about 60 miles (100km) away in north Bohemia, is one of them. “He does things for ordinary people,” he said. “He makes an effort for us: last time, he raised pensions, and lowered transport fares.”
Babiš “is not arrogant or snotty at all”, Jan added. “I’ve met him. He keeps his promises. And I like that he surrounds himself with competent people.” Vladimir Tykvart, 72, agreed critics had got the election frontrunner wrong.
“He’s not pro-Russian – that’s just nonsense,” Tykvart said. “He’s already been prime minister, and he didn’t try make us like Russia, or Slovakia, or Hungary. And I don’t believe for one moment he would lead us away from the EU or from Nato.”
Quite where he would lead the country, however, is unclear. Babiš, whose wealth comes from a sprawling empire of farming, food processing and fertiliser firms, started his Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO, meaning Yes in Czech) party in 2011.
Back then, it was a centrist anti-corruption movement. It has since swung left, to capture disillusioned, mainly older social democrats, often in poorer rural areas, and then radically right, in search of the burgeoning conservative vote.
Few supporters seem concerned by the trial Babiš faces for an alleged $2m EU subsidy fraud from 2007, when he allegedly took Stork Nest, a farm and hotel complex outside Prague, out of his conglomerate to make it eligible for a small business subsidy.
Babiš, who has been twice acquitted of the charges in two previous trials, has always denied wrongdoing, describing the allegations as politically motivated.
The Prague high court earlier this year overturned the most recent acquittal and ordered a retrial.
Read Jon’s report from Prague in full here:
