PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Former Czech Prime-Minister and current opposition leader, Andrej Babis, was attacked and subsequently hospitalized on Monday after being physically assaulted by a man during a heated campaign rally in the eastern part of the country. The incident, which has drawn widespread condemnation, comes just weeks ahead of a highly anticipated parliamentary election and has raised serious concerns about the state of political discourse in the nation.
The attack occurred on the evening of Monday, September 1, in the village of Dobrá, located in the Moravia-Silesia region. Babis, the 70-year-old billionaire leader of the populist ANO party, was greeting supporters when an elderly man emerged from the crowd and struck him on the head and back with a metal crutch.
Police officers present at the scene immediately intervened and detained the assailant. The authorities have preliminarily classified the incident as a "criminal offense of disorderly conduct" and have launched a full investigation.
Following the assault, Babis was transported to a nearby hospital in the town of Frýdek-Místek for examination. A spokesperson for the ANO party confirmed that he underwent a precautionary CT scan of his head. He was later discharged and took to his social media profile on X (formerly Twitter) to reassure his followers, stating that he would "likely be fine." However, on the advice of his doctors to rest, Babis canceled all his scheduled campaign events for the following day. Another woman was also reportedly treated for minor injuries sustained during the commotion.
Political Fallout Ahead of Crucial Election
The attack takes place in the final, tense stretch of the campaign for the Czech parliamentary elections, scheduled to be held on October 3-4. Babis, who served as Prime Minister from 2017 to 2021, is leading his ANO party in a bid to return to power. Current opinion polls consistently show ANO as the front-runner, significantly ahead of the ruling center-right SPOLU coalition.
The incident has been unequivocally condemned by politicians from across the Czech political spectrum.
Current Prime Minister Petr Fiala, a chief political rival of Babis, denounced the assault, emphasizing that "violence has no place in politics under any circumstances."
Interior Minister Vít Rakušan echoed the sentiment, stating, "I unequivocally condemn today's attack on Andrej Babis. Let us seek a better future for our country in clashes of arguments and ideas, not in physical violence."
However, members of Babis's party have pointed to an increasingly hostile political atmosphere as a contributing factor. ANO's first deputy chairman, Karel Havlíček, wrote on X that the incident was one of the consequences of a "hate campaign" he alleges has been waged by their political rivals against Babis.
The assault on a prominent political figure has cast a shadow over the upcoming election, prompting a nationwide debate on political civility and the security of public officials on the campaign trail.
