Petr Fiala to be sworn in as Prime Minister of Czech Republic
The Czech Republic will swear in a Petr Fiala as Prime Minister today.
Fiala, leader of the conservative Civic Democratic Party, has teamed up with two coalitions to form a mixed center-right government. The new government will be replacing a populist government led by Andrej Babis.
The Babis government only narrowly lost the October elections in a surprise upset following leaks of the former Prime Minister’s financial dealings. The new government, composed of the center-right Together Coalition and the center-left Pirate Party and Mayors Party, is more Eurocentric than the previous government. Despite some political uncertainty, Babis agreed to step down.
Today’s swearing in of a new government signals a big shift in Czech politics. Short-term, expect Fiala’s government to reduce the record budget deficit of $14.5 billion in 2020 to below $13.72 billion in 2022 by limiting state expenditure and cutting investment projects. In the medium-term, new foreign policy will focus on building strong relations with Western Europe and the US by increasing contributions to NATO up to 2% of GDP to combat Russian and Chinese influence. However, they are not likely to adopt the Euro long-term, as this is a contentious issue in Czech politics.
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