EU lawmakers voting on probe of Babis

The European Parliament is expected to debate the potential conflict of interest of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and vote on a resolution calling for the issue to be resolved.

At a press conference ahead of the debate, the chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee Monika Hohelmeier said she was convinced the conflict of interest was real, saying the only solution was for the prime minister to sell his business interests, stop receiving any public subsidies including EU funds, or step down from office.

She also stressed that the Czech Republic lacks a clear system for protecting EU funds against conflicts of interest, which is something that must be addressed.

Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský, who was part of the committee’s fact-finding mission to the Czech Republic in February, said he had received numerous threats in connection with his work and had been given police protection.

He has filed two criminal complaints –one against an unknown culprit, the other against the Czech prime minister who labelled him a traitor. 

Credit: Radio.cz