
Ex Czech PM comes under attack at election rally
Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, now the leader of the opposition ANO party, was struck in the head with a metal object by a man during an election rally on Monday, reported Xinhua, quoting the Czech News Agency. The attack occurred in the eastern town of Dobra. Babis, who served as Czech prime minister from 2017 to 2021, went to hospital for an examination after the incident, the agency said, citing an ANO spokesman. It was not immediately clear how seriously he was injured. Czech Police said on the social media platform X that officers at the scene immediately detained the man after the attack, and the case is now under investigation. ANO's first deputy chairman Karel Havlicek wrote on X that the incident was one of the consequences of a "hate campaign" allegedly waged by political rivals. Responding to the attack, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan stressed that violence in any form is unacceptable. "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," he said on X.