Former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš has been attacked during an election rally.
According to the police, an elderly man allegedly struck the leader of the right-wing opposition party ANO on the head. A second person is also reported to have been injured.
Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported that Babiš was targeted during an election rally in Dobrá, a village in eastern Czech Republic, on the evening of September 1.
He was hit with a crutch multiple times and had to be taken to a local hospital.
Babiš told Czech media outlet Denik N that whilst there medics gave him a brain scan, after which he was able to leave the hospital and told to rest.
He thanked his followers on X for their support.
“I hope I’ll be okay. Tomorrow, I’ll be waiting for further evaluation of the test results, but the doctors have recommended rest, so unfortunately, I’ll have to cancel at least tomorrow’s program in the Olomouc Region,” he said.
“I sincerely apologise to everyone who wanted to meet; my colleagues, including Lubomír Metnar, will definitely be there.”
Děkuju všem za podporu, budu doufám v pořádku. Zítra budu čekat ještě na další posouzení výsledků vyšetření, doktoři mi ale doporučili klid, proto budu muset bohužel minimálně zítřejší program v Olomouckém kraji zrušit. Moc se omlouvám všem, kteří jste se chtěli setkat, kolegové…
— Andrej Babiš (@AndrejBabis) September 1, 2025
Police detained the elderly alleged assailant and classified the incident as “hooliganism”. Nothing was said about a motive or the man’s identity.
ANO’s First Vice-Chairman Karel Havlíček described what happened as being the result of a “hate campaign” by political opponents appearing “on billboards and social media”.
Interior minister Vít Rakušan and Liberal-Conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala condemned the attack on Babiš.
International political allies of his also reacted, pointing to what they said was increasing violence against anti-establishment politicians.
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said: “After Slovakia, violence has seeped into Czech politics as well. No wonder. His political adversaries have demonised Andrej Babiš for years.
“This is the result. But they will not stop him. He will go on and win the elections! Get well soon, my friend!”
Santiago Abascal of the Spanish Vox party said: “The attack on Andrej Babiš, the next president of the Czech Republic, is yet another attack by those who promote violence against the representatives of the people.
“The left and globalism seek to subjugate nations by any means necessary: through media manipulation, electoral fraud, or the persecution and violence suffered by so many patriotic leaders. We stand with you, Andrej.”
Babiš was prime minister of Czechia from 2017 to 2021. His ANO party is currently in opposition but, according to the polls, looks set to win the next elections, which take place in the first weekend of October.
In the first half of 2024, 84 violent attacks were made against German politicians, a sharp rise compared to 2023.
AfD politicians were most often targeted in those assaults — 48 times out of the 84 cases, the figures seen by Brussels Signal disclosed.
Read the full article 👉🏽… pic.twitter.com/2Wwc9HwRPI
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 3, 2024
