Seznam Zprávy | "It's cynical." Why ANO party turned the tables in the migration pact debate

In light of the debates on the migration pact, which represents the next step in solving the migration issue, the Czech political scene is once again focusing on this topic. However, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the head of the opposition ANO party Andrej Babiš criticize the agreement, despite their previous positions. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, spoke in the 5:59 podcast about the change in their opinions, the possible reasons that led to it, as well as the content of the pact itself.

The final compromise is almost tailor-made for the Czech Republic. The European Commission and the majority of the EU countries took into account practically everything that Central Europe ever asked for, and the Czech Republic reflected a lot in the final compromise. Of course, some partial concessions were made during the negotiations with the MEPs, but the base of the agreement has not changed. The decision of Czech politicians not to support the pact is therefore somewhat surprising to me. It becomes less surprising when we consider the context in which it happened. And that context is the European Parliament elections.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Viktor Daněk
Deputy Director

Before entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.