Turnout: 28.72%
About this election
The 2019 European Parliament election in Czechia, held on 24–25 May 2019, was won by Andrej Babiš's governing ANO movement, which finished comfortably ahead of the centre-right opposition. The vote, held while ANO led the national government, confirmed the party's dominance of Czech politics and the continuing fragmentation of the opposition into several mid-sized parties.
Czechia elects its members of the European Parliament in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation using the D'Hondt method, with a 5% threshold and optional preferential votes for individual candidates. In 2019 the country returned 21 MEPs. Because the whole country forms one district, European elections offer a relatively clean test of national party strength — though turnout is markedly lower than in domestic contests, which tends to reward parties with the most committed electorates.
ANO campaigned on Babiš's record in government and a pragmatic, mildly Eurosceptic line, while facing protests at home over his conflicts of interest. The Civic Democrats (ODS) pressed a reformist centre-right message, the Pirates ran a strongly pro-European and anti-corruption campaign, and the TOP 09–Mayors alliance appealed to liberal, pro-EU voters. The far-right SPD campaigned against immigration and the EU, while the Christian Democrats and Communists fought to hold their ground.
ANO won 21.18% and six of the 21 seats. The Civic Democrats (ODS) took 14.54% and four seats, the Pirates 13.95% and three, and the TOP 09–STAN alliance 11.65% and three. The far-right SPD won 9.14% and two seats, the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) 7.24% and two, and the Communists (KSČM) 6.94% and one. The Social Democrats, in office nationally, fell below the threshold and won no MEPs — an early sign of the collapse that would follow. Turnout was 28.7%.
The result reinforced ANO's command of Czech politics midway through Babiš's term while exposing the weakness of the traditional governing left. The strong showings of the Pirates and the centre-right alliances foreshadowed the opposition's strategy of consolidation that would, two years later, narrowly deny Babiš a second term in the 2021 legislative election. ANO's MEPs would later leave the liberal group and help found the nationalist Patriots for Europe.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.