The Czech Republic’s populist ANO party, led by billionaire Andrej Babis, has proposed a controversial cabinet appointment that threatens to complicate coalition talks after last month’s election, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Babis submitted a list of nominees to President Petr Pavel that included Filip Turek of the right-wing eurosceptic Motorists party.
Turek has faced criticism for performing a Nazi salute and posting Nazi memorabilia online, which he later described as “bad humor” rather than any affinity to Nazism or racism. He has also disputed the authenticity of old social media posts published by Czech media in which he appeared to make racist comments.
“The president repeated that his objections to Filip Turek as a member of the future government remain,” Pavel’s office said in a statement. The President has previously stated that Turek should not hold a government post if his past comments are genuine.
Babis, who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021 and hopes to form a government by mid-December, said he would discuss Pavel’s objections - described as stemming from unspecified legal reasons - with Motorists party leader Petr Macinka.
“We will see what the coalition says on that,” Babis told reporters, according to Reuters.
Turek, who has been nominated for the environment ministry after an earlier proposal to appoint him as foreign minister, did not immediately comment.
The controversial nomination comes days after the Federation of Jewish Communities said in its annual report that antisemitic incidents in the Czech Republic reached record levels in 2024.
The community registered 4,694 incidents last year, an 8.5% rise from 4,328 in 2023. The previous year had already seen a 90% surge following the Hamas massacre of October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Petr Papousek, head of the Federation, said the Czech Republic was no exception to “a global explosive wave of antisemitism which erupted immediately after the Hamas attack.”