Former Czech PM Babis cancels campaign events following attack

PRAGUE -- Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Monday evening that he is canceling his Tuesday election campaign program after being attacked during a rally.

"Tomorrow, I'll be waiting for further evaluation of the test results, but the doctors have recommended rest, so unfortunately, I'll have to cancel at least tomorrow's program in the Olomouc Region," he said on the social media platform X.

Babis, who served as Czech prime minister from 2017 to 2021, was struck in the head with a metallic forearm crutch by a man during an election rally in the eastern Czech town of Dobra on Monday afternoon.

Babis, the leader of the opposition ANO party, went to hospital for an examination after the incident. He underwent a head CT scan and was subsequently released from the hospital, according to local media reports.

Czech Police said X that officers at the scene immediately detained the man after the attack, and the case is now under investigation. In addition to Babis, a woman was also treated for injuries.

Police have preliminarily classified the incident as a "criminal offense of disorderly conduct."

ANO's first deputy chairman Karel Havlicek wrote on X that the incident was one of the consequences of a "hate campaign" allegedly waged by political rivals.

Responding to the attack, Interior Minister Vit Rakusan stressed that violence in any form is unacceptable.

"I unequivocally condemn today's attack on Andrej Babis. Let us seek a better future for our country in clashes of arguments and ideas, not in physical violence," he said on X.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala also condemned the attack, stressing that "violence has no place in politics under any circumstances."

The Czech Republic is set to hold elections to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the parliament, on Oct 3-4 this year.