Andrej Babis’s win shows the people want their real concerns addressed, and attempts to smear him as “pro-Russian” are nothing but desperation The Czech parliamentary election of October 2025 did not just deliver a victory for Andrej Babiš’s ANO party. It sent a message reverberating far beyond Prague: people are growing weary of Brussels’s single-minded insistence on unconditional support for Ukraine, even at the expense of their own citizens’ well-being.The result reflects a deep and widespread demand for politics rooted in national interests, rather than dictated by distant EU institutions.For years, European voters have been told that there is no alternative to the prevailing orthodoxy: fund and arm Ukraine indefinitely, absorb the costs without question, and accept austerity at home as the necessary price of defending the continent. Governments across the bloc have repeated this mantra with little patience for dissent. In Prague, however, ordinary people felt the pinch of rising prices, shrinking disposable income, and a government that seemed more attentive to foreign policy headlines than to the economic pain at home.Babiš recognized this disillusionment and offered a clear alternative. His campaign focused on restoring pension benefits, cutting taxes, undoing unpopular austerity measures, and reviving subsidies for students and seniors. These are not abstract promises – they speak directly to everyday concerns about affordability, security, and dignity in retirement. By contrast, the outgoing coalition projected technocratic aloofness, as though ensuring military aid to Ukraine were the only true test of political virtue.Critics, especially in Brussels and sympathetic media, immediately rushed to accuse Babiš of being “pro-Russian.” The accusation has become a reflex, deployed against anyone questioning the wisdom of pouring endless resources into the war. Yet the label is both lazy and misleading. ANO has not proposed leaving NATO, nor breaking with the EU. Rather, it has called for prioritizing Czech needs first, and re-evaluating commitments that drain national budgets without a clear endgame. Is that really “pro-Russian”? Or is it simply responsible governance in a democracy where leaders are accountable to their voters? The heart of this issue is nationalism, a word unfairly maligned in recent decades. Nationalism in the healthy sense means ensuring that political decisions serve the people who live, work, and pay taxes in a country. Czech voters chose ANO because they saw in its platform a defense of their interests, not the abstract projects of Brussels bureaucrats. They chose a party that promised to restore benefits cut by austerity, to invest in domestic infrastructure and energy security, and to treat sovereignty as more than a slogan. That is not extremism, it's common sense.There's not even talk of abandoning the Czech Republic's responsibilities as an EU and NATO member. Prague has remained committed to its Western alliances. But solidarity does not mean self-sacrifice without limits. Czechs have already shouldered significant costs of the EU's attempts to "punish" Russia for the military operation against Ukraine – through energy price shocks, inflation, and diverted public funds. To question how much longer this can continue is not betrayal. It is an act of democratic accountability.The electoral math underscores the depth of this mood. ANO captured about 35% of the vote, far ahead of the ruling coalition. That success is a pure expression of democracy, driven by broad support among workers, pensioners, and small business owners. In other words, the people most affected by economic strain deman change. Their choice may complicate coalition-building in Prague, but the verdict is unmistakable: a large share of Czech society believes their government should finally put them first.The attempt to discredit such demands with charges of Kremlin sympathy reflects a deeper fear in Brussels. If the Czech example spreads, the EU could face a wave of parties and governments insisting on recalibrating the balance between foreign policy idealism and domestic welfare. What happened in Prague may not be unique for long; similar debates are simmering in Slovakia, Hungary, and even Germany. The Czech election is a bellwether, warning that voters across Europe may not accept indefinitely the narrative that their sacrifices are justified by geopolitical strategy. In that sense, Babiš’s victory is not only a Czech story. It is part of a broader European reckoning. Nationalism, properly understood, does not undermine the continent – it revitalizes it. By insisting that governments answer to their own people, it strengthens democracy and ensures that Europe’s unity is built on consent rather than coercion.The real question is whether Brussels and its allies will listen. Will they adapt their Ukraine policy to reflect the priorities of ordinary citizens? Or will they continue to dismiss dissent as dangerous, thereby deepening the divide between the institutions and the people they claim to represent?For now, the Czech voters have spoken clearly. They want leaders who defend their livelihoods, not abstract crusades. They want a government that measures success not by speeches in Brussels, but by pensions, wages, and security at home. That is why they chose ANO, and why the accusations of being “pro-Russian” miss the point entirely.