PRAGUE: Czech President Milos Zeman on Wednesday swore in a new minority government led by a populist billionaire whose centrist movement scored a landslide in a parliamentary election almost two months ago.
Andrej Babis’ ANO (YES) movement won 78 seats in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament in October. Babis was sworn in as prime minister last week. The new Cabinet has 14 ministers.
Known for his slogan “everybody steals” and resolve to run the Czech Republic like a company, Babis opposes setting a date for adopting the euro as the country’s currency and the European Union’s plans to disperse new migrants to Europe among EU members.
“We will fight for security of our citizens, security in Europe, against the illegal migration,” he said Wednesday.
Babis will have a chance to discuss the thorny migrant relocation system with leaders of other EU member states in Brussels on Thursday.
Justice Minister Robert Pelikan, who was part of the previous coalition government led by Social Democrats, is among those keeping his post. Pelikan is deciding whether a Russian man who faces charges of hacking computers at American companies can be extradited to the US.
Czech authorities arrested Yevgeniy Nikulin in Prague in cooperation with the FBI in October 2016. He is accused by US prosecutors of penetrating computers at Silicon Valley firms including LinkedIn and Dropbox in 2012.
Former Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky, who is a supporter of the country’s pro-Western orientation, was appointed as foreign minister.
Babis faces fraud charges, a reason why no other parties agreed to create a coalition government with ANO. To rule, the new government must survive a parliamentary confidence vote scheduled for Jan 10.
If Babis’ government fails to win the confidence vote, President Zeman, an ally, said he would ask him to form a government again.
Another second failure would leave it to the new speaker of Parliament’s lower house, an ANO member, to select a prime minister.
New Czech government led by billionaire Babis sworn in
New Czech government led by billionaire Babis sworn in
Macron vows stronger cooperation with Nigeria after mass kidnappings
- Macron wrote on X that France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations”
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France will step up cooperation with Nigeria after speaking with his counterpart, as the West African country faces a surge in abductions.
Nigeria has been wracked by a wave of kidnappings in recent weeks, including the capture of over 300 school children two weeks ago that shook Africa’s most populous country, already weary from chronic violence.
Macron wrote on X that the move came at Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s request, saying France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations,” while urging other countries to “step up their engagement.”
“No one can remain a spectator” to what is happening in Nigeria, the French president said.
Nigeria has drawn heightened attention from Washington in recent weeks, after US President Donald Trump said in November that the United States was prepared to take military action there to counter the killing of Christians.
US officials, while not contradicting Trump, have since instead emphasized other US actions on Nigeria including security cooperation with the government and the prospect of targeted sanctions.
Kidnappings for ransom by armed groups have plagued Nigeria since the 2014 abduction of 276 school girls in the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants.
The religiously diverse country is the scene of a number of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.
Many scholars say the reality is more nuanced, with conflicts rooted in struggles for scarce resources rather than directly related to religion.
