The Czech Republic last weekend went to the ballots. From that moment onward, everything has pointed to the victory of the Right-wing Together (SPOLU) coalition. Professor Maciej Szymanowski, the director of the Wacław Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute commented on the election results and explained what they will mean for Polish-Czech relations.

First of all, the Right has returned. We are dealing with an overall return of the Right-wing party. Everything points to the coalition led by Petr Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS) having won,’ he said.

Szymanowski added that while the results are not set in stone as events are constantly changing and exact MP mandates are yet to be decided, the nationalist Right has most likely won. A surprise in the elections was the poor result of the liberal-Left Pirate party, whose leader Ivan Bartošf was even considered by many to become the next PM. Instead of the predicted 22 MPs, the party may be left with only 3.

In his opinion, a difficult coalition out of five parties will have to be formed in the Czech parliament, which may have trouble maintaining a majority within a couple of years.

The shift to the nationalist anti-globalist Right in Czechia is good news from Poland’s point of view. ‘Forces which listen more to what citizens are saying will come to power. These elections show that mainstream media that never sings to the same song sheet as the people lost against ordinary citizens,’ he stated.