Czech Prime Minister Babishi blamed for conflict of interest

MEPs will vote on Wednesday on a resolution that the Czech head of government, Andrei Babisz, is in a conflict of interest because of his business interests. The outcome of the vote will be announced on Thursday.

An audit carried out in the spring concluded that the Czech prime minister should not have decided to allocate European Union funds to his own agrochemical concern Agrofert. Babiss denies the accusations.

Agrochemical business

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrejs Babišs is one of the richest and most influential people in his country. His work with European Union funds has attracted the attention of MEPs and auditors for several years.

An audit by the European Commission in the spring concluded that Babišs controls two trusts that own the agrochemical concern Agrofert. Consequently, the Prime Minister has a conflict of interest, because this company is has received significant support from various European Union funds.

“We believe that the Minister of Agriculture cannot be one of the largest recipients of agricultural payments. This also applies to his son and his brother. Such a person cannot be responsible for agriculture.

Nor can the Prime Minister be among the people who receive hundreds of millions in subsidies through his company, which he partly owns through an intermediary fund, ”says Monika Holmeiere, a German MEP.

Unfair system

The Czech MEP from the opposition “green” Mikulas Peks also believes that Babish’s conflict of interest is obvious.

“We all know that Andrejs Babišs is in a conflict of interest. We say that clearly. Babiss has been able to build an empire for himself, which is now helping him to become richer. It’s a really greedy approach, the consequences of which can also be seen in how many people died during the pandemic. “

The authors of the resolution state that an unfair system has been set up in the Czech Republic, which directs most of the European funds into the hands of a few large companies. Holmeiere reports that the Agrofert Group has 230 subsidiaries that also receive support in other European countries.

The euro enters the pockets of oligarchs

“This situation is painful both for Czech citizens who want to protect democracy and the rule of law, and for the media and independent institutions that are being attacked for doing their job, and for the European project as such.

Every euro that goes into the pockets of oligarchs is not being used to fight the climate crisis, to reduce social inequalities and to recover from the crisis, ”emphasizes Lara Walters MEP from the Netherlands.

These revelations may diminish the chances of the Babish party returning to power after the Czech parliamentary elections in the autumn. Babiss denies any allegations of conflict of interest. Babish’s wealth is estimated at $ 3.8 billion Forbes magazine data.

MEPs on Wednesday also called on the European Commission to take stronger action against wider violations of the rule of law in various countries, threatening to go to court if this is not done. As you know, the new rules provide for linking access to European funds to respect for the rule of law.

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