On Monday evening, Andřej Babiš, the leader of the ANO party, which is part of the Patriots for Europe party alliance and the former prime minister of the Czech Republic, was attacked in the village of Dobrá. The Czech politician was hit on the head with a crutch. Babiš was immediately taken to the hospital and underwent a CT scan.
The attack is part of what Hungarian news outlet Mandiner has called “a disturbing series” of violent acts targeting “patriotic” leaders.
As the paper noted, U.S. President Donald Trump holds the record for the most assassination attempts, with the most serious occurring during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Two other close calls also came on the 2024 campaign trail, while a fourth involved a British citizen who tried to pull a gun on him at a campaign rally in Nevada back in 2016.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was also targeted in a shooting in Handlová last May. The perpetrator was a 71-year-old opposition voter with a disturbed mental state who fired five shots at the Slovak leader at close range.
Fico suffered serious injuries to his lower abdomen and was taken to a hospital in Banská Bystrica in a life-threatening condition, where his life was saved.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the target of a foiled assassination attempt when police arrested a 44-year-old man in June who had reported an attack on the prime minister’s life in a video posted on social media; authorities also found a tool suitable for murder in his apartment.
According to the latest polling, Babiš’ ANO party has secured a crushing lead of 31 percent, with the political alliance SPOLU, led by PM Fiala, at 21 percent, and the far-right SPD at 13 percent.
Czechia, STEM poll:
ANO-PfE: 31% (-2)
SPOLU-ECR|EPP: 21%
SPD-ESN: 13% (+2)
STAN-EPP: 10% (-1)
Piráti-G/EFA: 9%
Stačilo!-NI: 7%
Auto-PfE: 5% (+1)
Přísaha-PfE: 3%
+/- vs. 31 July – 19 August 2025
Fieldwork: 07-26 August 2025
Sample size: 1,548
➤ https://t.co/EvT7FIWCzK pic.twitter.com/Esh7H1MsZv
— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) August 31, 2025
