A Comeback Built on Sovereignty

The October 2025 parliamentary elections in Czechia marked a major victory for national conservatism in Europe. Former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his ANO (YES) movement secured roughly 34.7 percent of the vote, becoming the largest force in the Chamber of Deputies and ousting the pro–European Union (EU) coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala.REF

This election was more than a domestic shift: It was a turning point for sovereignty, Euroskepticism, and national conservatism across Central Europe. Babiš’s return to power promises to revive the Visegrád Four (V4) alliance of Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia as a potent counterweight to the EU’s push for deeper integration and ideological conformity. For the United States, the implications are clear. A resurgent Central Europe rooted in sovereignty, border security, and economic realism provides a natural partner for an America First foreign policy that values strong, self-reliant allies rather than dependent client states.

After losing power in 2021, Babiš spent four years rebuilding ANO’s base through disciplined local campaigning and populist messaging.REF His platform emphasized economic security, energy affordability, and resistance to European Union (EU) overreach. By 2024, ANO had already won 292 of 675 seats in regional elections, dominating 10 of 13 regions—a clear indicator of Babiš’s renewed appeal.REF

Public frustration with the Fiala government’s high energy prices, inflation, and subservience to Brussels set the stage for change. Opinion polls in mid-2025 showed ANO leading by double digits.REF The election results—Babiš’s ANO, 34.7 percent; Fiala’s SPOLU, 23 percent—confirmed that momentum.REF

Babiš now faces coalition negotiations with smaller nationalist parties such as Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Motorists.REF Yet, regardless of the final coalition formula, the message from Czech voters is unmistakable: National sovereignty and pragmatic governance are back in fashion.

A Sovereign Conservative Vision for Czechia

During the campaign, Babiš framed the election as a referendum on taking back national control—whether the Czechia would be governed from Prague or from Brussels. He criticized EU “green transition” mandates that burden local industries, rejected forced migrant quotas, and questioned the indefinite flow of aid to Ukraine without clear accountability.REF

Babiš’s rhetoric struck a chord with working-class and middle-class voters who felt that their government had prioritized globalist agendas over domestic needs. His slogan, “Strong Czechia,” appeared on red baseball caps and captured both a sense of patriotic duty and economic realism. Ultimately, it was Babiš’s brand of governance, combining pragmatic economic policy, social conservatism, and a firm defense of national sovereignty, that appealed to the electorate.

Implications for Central Europe: Rebuilding the Visegrád Four

The Czech election could reinvigorate the Visegrád Four, a regional bloc that for much of the 2010s coordinated policy among Central Europe’s conservative governments. The V4 played a pivotal role in resisting EU migration quotas and in defending family and faith-based values in the public square.

However, under centrist Czech and Polish governments, the group’s cohesion fractured—mainly because of disagreements over Ukraine, energy, and relations with Brussels.REF Now, with Babiš’s return and the election of national-conservative leaders in Slovakia and Poland, there is a genuine opportunity for the V4 to reassert itself as the strategic spine of sovereign Europe. For example, a reinvigorated V4 could:

• Oppose forced EU centralization in fiscal and judicial matters;
• Coordinate migration policy, emphasizing border control and security;
• Advance affordable energy policy, rejecting unrealistic net-zero timelines; and
• Strengthen defense cooperation among Central European states in concert with NATO but without undermining national autonomy or the defense alliance’s overall cohesion.

In this sense, Babiš’s win represents a restoration of balance within the European Union—an anchor of pluralism that resists the push toward federalism and ideological homogenization while clearly supporting conservative positions.

A Broader European Trend: The Rise of National Conservatism

The Czech outcome is part of a broader European realignment. Across the continent, national-conservative parties are gaining ground by emphasizing cultural identity, sovereignty, and economic realism.

• In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy leads Rome on a platform of national pride and controlled immigration.
• In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz (Hungarian Civic Alliance) continues to resist EU judicial interference and defend traditional values and pro-family policies.
• In Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico has repositioned his government toward pragmatic conservatism.
• In France, Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, right-leaning populist parties are climbing steadily in the polls.

Babiš’s victory strengthens this pan-European trend. It shows that sovereignty-centered politics is no longer confined to the fringes but instead is becoming the mainstream conservative alternative to the bureaucratic consensus promoted by the EU.

Why This Matters to the United States

For the United States, this pan-European trend is of vital importance for at least four compelling reasons.

First, sovereign allies are stronger partners. For Washington, the strategic advantage of working with national-conservative governments lies in clarity. Sovereign nations—nations that control their borders, budgets, and foreign policy—are more dependable allies than those that are beholden to EU directives or progressive political fashions. President Donald Trump’s America First approach favors bilateral relationships with capable, independent partners. A self-confident Central Europe led by a reinvigorated Czechia is fully consistent with that vision.

Second, U.S. engagement with the V4 offers a hedge against the European Union’s centralizing agenda and tendency to speak “for Europe” while marginalizing national-conservative voices. The V4’s pro-sovereignty stance ensures that the continent retains internal pluralism with policy positions that recognize a rising conservative voice on the continent—a prerequisite for effective cooperation with the U.S. on defense, energy, and trade.

Third, Central Europe often aligns more closely with President Trump’s geopolitical instincts than it does with those of Western Europe’s technocratic elites: The V4 are NATO members that favor securing borders, countering bureaucratic controls on free speech, supporting pro-family policies, and pushing back on transgender ideological madness. Supporting Prague, Warsaw, Budapest, and Bratislava as equal partners will help to balance Europe’s East–West divide, strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, and enhance transatlantic stability.

Fourth, Babiš’s focus on pragmatic energy policy resonates with U.S. goals of energy diversification. While Brussels continues to impose radical climate targets, Central Europe’s leaders emphasize energy security and realism: affordability, nuclear power, and natural gas.REF U.S. energy exports—especially exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG)—stand to benefit from policies that prioritize reliability over ideology.

Policy Recommendations

There are at least five actions that the United States can and should take to seize the opportunity presented by Andrej Babiš’s recent electoral victory in Czechia. Specifically, the Administration should:

• Reengage strategically with the Visegrád Four. The U.S. should treat the V4 not as a secondary European bloc, but rather as a vital partner. Regular ministerial-level consultations, defense cooperation, and trade dialogues should be revived under a framework of respect for sovereignty and shared Western values.
• Promote energy cooperation based on affordability and independence. Washington should expand LNG infrastructure partnerships and nuclear cooperation with Czechia and Poland, reducing their dependence on Russian gas while avoiding EU-mandated “green” overreach.
• Strengthen NATO’s eastern pillar. The U.S. should deepen defense integration with Central European forces through joint training, interoperability, and the sharing of technology to ensure that NATO remains a defensive alliance of sovereign nations, not a supranational bureaucracy.
• Encourage the inclusion of V4 leaders in U.S.–EU strategic dialogues to balance perspectives dominated by Western European federalists.
• Champion trade and investment frameworks that empower Central Europe’s private sector instead of entrenching EU-style regulatory dependence.

Conclusion

The Czech election is not an isolated event in European politics. It is part of a larger movement to restore realism, sovereignty, national pride, and the foundations of Western civilization. The tide is turning, and Europe’s heartland is leading the way.

Paul McCarthy is a Senior Research Fellow for European Affairs in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation.