Spitzenkandidate

Five candidates for the post of President of the European Commission faced each other in the Spitzenkandidaten debate. Two factions did not send a representative at all. Moreover, these are the very factions that could be significantly stronger in the European elections than in the previous period. Missing were representatives of the far-right Identity and Democracy group, of which the SPD is a member for the Czech Republic, as well as the European Conservatives and Reformists, on which the Czech ODS sits. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of EUROPEUM Institute, commented for ČT24 about whether they were significantly absent from the debate.