Andrej Babis is leader of the parliamentary opposition in the Czech Republic. Come the fall, however, the billionaire and head of the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) party hopes to return to the prime minister's office.

And he has a good chance. According to an Ipsos opinion poll from early February, 36.7% of Czech voters intend to vote for his party.

Only 20.5% plan to back the three-party, center-right alliance Spolu (Together) led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which has ruled the country with two other parties since 2021.

Should Babis win the election, it's unlikely he will have a coalition partner that would act as a corrective — like the pro-European Social Democrats did during his first premiership from 2017 to 2021.

ANO has become more radical over the past year, moving further and further to the right. In the European Parliament, it has switched from the liberal Renew Europe group to the far-right Patriots for Europe, which is headed by the French far-right National Rally party.

Babis looking to Hungary, Slovakia for inspiration

Babis has made no secret of his closeness to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Both politicians are seen as controversial within the EU, not least because of their ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their authoritarian style of leadership has also been viewed with concern in Brussels.

Babis wants to follow the example set by Fico and Orban in one area in particular, with a plan to overhaul public media.

While at least part of the ruling pro-European coalition in Prague is trying to strengthen the independence of the country's public media, Babis wants to do the exact opposite. His aim is to move away from the license fee model and merge Czech Radio and Czech Television into one organization that would be directly funded from the state budget.

For months now, ANO and the right-wing populist euroskeptic Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy party (SPD) have been blocking the proposed increase in the monthly TV and radio license fees proposed by the government.

The proposal is to moderately increase monthly fees, which have remained unchanged since 2008, from 135 to 155 Czech crowns (an increase of €0.80 or $0.84) for television and from 45 to 55 Czech crowns for radio.

Babis, on the other hand, has promised to do away with the license fees altogether if reelected.

"The main reason for our proposal is economic in nature," he told parliament in January. "The aim is that citizens should no longer pay for untransparent institutions that are being misused for the benefit of this government and five-party coalition."

Babis' plan for public media 'unacceptable'

Babis has been clear about his goal to implement the same model as the one adopted in neighboring Slovakia by Prime Minister Fico. The Slovak government has brought public radio and television under its political control by linking its funding directly to the state budget.

"The transformation of public media by means of their nationalization and financing them from the state budget is, in our view, unacceptable," said Ivana Sulakova, head of the Czech Syndicate of Journalists. "It means a direct dependence on the political will of the highest political establishment."

"What is happening in Slovakia is alarming and clear evidence of the fact that if there is no public media, the people cannot be sure of getting all relevant information — regardless of who currently holds the reins of political power," she told DW.

Like many other journalists and media experts in the Czech Republic, Sulakova is also critical of the current government under Petr Fiala. She said it has done too little to protect public media from attempts by politicians like Babis and Fico to bring it under government control.

"I do not have the feeling that the current government has strengthened the position of public media in society," said Sulakova. "It was also not capable of explaining to the people what the license fees are used for and what they guarantee the public."

Lawmakers attempt to strengthen public media

Senator David Smoljak of the Mayors and Independents party, which is part of the ruling coalition, agrees with Sulakova. He has campaigned in recent years for greater public media independence in order to protect it against nationalization.

"We have ensured that one-third of the members of supervisory boards at public media are chosen by the Senate, which is elected in a different political cycle to the parliament," Smoljak told DW.

He would like to see the Senate appoint half of these members, but said the government was not willing to back that.

The reason for this, said Smoljak, is that part of the Civic Democratic Party of Prime Minister Fiala, the largest party in the three-party alliance Spolu, is opposed to a strengthening of public media.

"However," he added confidently, "I think we will manage to push through the increase in license fees before the election." Parliament was due to vote on the matter on February 14.

He also views Babis' plans as an attempt to destroy public media in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, he believes Czech public media will remain independent even if Babis returns to power.

"We are in a better situation than Slovakia," said Smoljak. "Our public media are more resilient, and any attempt to force them under government control would meet with resistance from both journalists and most citizens."

This article was originally written in German and adapted and updated by Aingeal Flanagan