Pro-Western opposition keeps control of Czech Senate after big election gains

PRAGUE (AP) — Pro-Western opposition parties kept control of the Czech Republic’s Senate following a vote to fill one-third of seats, dealing a blow to the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, results showed Saturday.

With all the votes from the two-day ballot counted, the centrist ANO (or YES) movement led by the populist billionaire failed to win a single contested seat.

The election was the first test for Babiš since he returned to power after a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in October 2025.

Babiš has formed a governing coalition with two small political groups whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies. His coalition partners also ended up empty-handed in the Senate ballot.

“We certainly didn’t expect that we wouldn’t win a single Senate seat in this election,” Babiš said, calling the result “catastrophic.”

A total of 27 seats from the 81-member Senate were up for grabs in the two-round election. The candidates directly linked to the opposition parties won 22 seats. ANO’s Senate faction has 14 lawmakers after the election.

Babiš said his movement will analyze the losses but vowed his government will go ahead with its agenda, including an unpopular plan to overhaul the way the country’s public broadcasters are funded.

Parliament’s lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges.