Number two on the list is MEP Evzen Tosenovsky, followed by MP Veronika Vrecionova. Notably, Alexandr Vondra, a former Defense Minister and Deputy PM for European affairs, returns after six years out of politics in 16th place. Fourth place belongs to Ondrej Krutilek, who worked in the EP as an assistant, fifth to Radka Trylcova, a Councilor of the Town of Pilsen, and sixth to a lawyer, Eva Decroix.
According to party leader Petr Fiala, the list of candidates is well balanced and they’ve put together a competent team. As you can see, we don’t need any gender quotas, he added.
The ballot leader Zahradil said they would like to offer a middle ground between two extremes – radicalism and excessive euro-optimism. He believes that the atmosphere in the EU has been shifting more into a direction held by the Civic Democrats.
As put by Zahradil, ODS always wanted a decentralized and debureaucratized EU in which the Czech Republic should stay independent in tax, fiscal and budget matters. ODS also aims for an independent asylum and social policy, he added.
Regarding the candidacy of prominent party member Vondra, Fiala noted that he is extraordinarily competent in foreign and European affairs, adding that Vondra didn’t want to appear high on the list. Vondra’s name has been linked with a so-called ProMoPro cause about an extremely overpriced tender for an audio technique during the Czech European Presidency.
