Babis

Denmark, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands dug in their heels over the next European Union budget, insisting it cannot top 1 percent of economic output, to leave the EU no closer to a deal on Friday after all-night talks.

European Union leaders start two days of tough talks on Thursday on a joint seven-year budget from 2021 and must work out how to fill a 75 billion euro ($81 billion) hole left by Britain's departure just as they face costly climate, migration and development challenges.

CZECH PRIME MINISTER ANDREJ BABIS

According to David Ondracka, TI's high-profile director in the Czech Republic, alleged slurs by Babis are all part of an attempt to "delegitimise the messenger" by labelling his NGO "corrupt".

"Imagine me being Harry Potter, having a magic stick and transforming all the planned projects into reality now," he continued. "We would immediately become a second Switzerland."

Of course, Babis was quickly reminded that despite his immense economic and political heft, his powers remain earthbound. 

Apart from the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, as a host of the event, the lunch is attended by the prime ministers of Hungary Victor Orban, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pelegrini, as well as prime ministers of Western Balkans, among others, Albanian PM Edi Rama, Montenegrin PM Dusko Markovic, and Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Zoran Zaev.

The Czech prime minister is off the hook for alleged fraud — for now.

For four years, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has faced allegations that he illegally used EU subsidies to build a conference centre near Prague known as the Stork's Nest.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Sept. 3 encouraged Turkish companies to increase their investment in Czechia, formerly called the Czech Republic, especially in the construction sector.     

Babis's response has been to lash out at the European Union, accusing it of trying to "destabilise" the Czech Republic.

Such rhetoric might raise eyebrows in Brussels but it will come as little surprise to Czechs used to Babis's brand of populism.

The EU has already frozen non-farm payments to Agrofert — one of the largest Czech recipients of EU aid — and the Czech supreme state prosecutor is looking into whether criminal charges should be brought.

Brussels is likely to levy fines and demand that past aid is repaid, meaning that either the state or Agrofert would have to bear the cost.

In Czech Republic, scandal-hit Prime Minister Andrej Babis shows no sign of stepping down following the country's biggest street protests since the fall of communism, writes Tim Gosling. On Thursday, Babis survived a no-confidence vote.