Czechia and Ireland are next in line when the EU election continues.
The former Czech prime minister is urging a fight against environmentalists and migration in the campaign slogan.
Andrej Babis and his party ANO are part of the liberal group in the EU parliament – but the question is whether it will last long.
The former Czech prime minister has become increasingly less liberal over the years and has now openly flagged that he would like to switch party groups after the EU election, which is being held in the Czech Republic on Friday and Saturday.
ANO, which has been in opposition since the 2021 election, hopes to become the largest party again, among other things with the help of tough words on environmental and asylum policy.
In a social media post, Babis is urging his voters to "get rid of... the green fanatics and pro-migration enthusiasts", according to the AFP news agency.
ANO is fighting closest to a conservative alliance dominated by Prime Minister Petr Fiala's party ODS. There are also speculations about a group switch after the election, from the more EU-skeptical ECR (which also includes SD) to the traditional right-wing group EPP (with M and KD).
In the Irish EU election, the biggest curiosity is whether the opposition party Sinn Féin – which is part of the left in the EU – will become larger than the conservative government party Fine Gael.
No results are expected until all EU countries have voted on Sunday.
After the Netherlands, which voted on Thursday, Ireland is the second country to vote in the EU election. Ireland has 14 seats in parliament, where the conservative Fine Gael is currently the largest with five mandates, against two each for the liberal Fianna Fáil and the Green Party.
The EU election will be held in the Czech Republic on both Friday and Saturday, with a total of 21 seats. The largest party in the outgoing parliament has been the EU-skeptical conservative ODS with four mandates, followed by the Pirate Party and the liberal ANO with three each.
