Czechia's populist ANO (Yes) party, which won a landslide victory in the recent parliamentary elections, softened its rhetoric on the country's ammunition initiative for Ukraine, local media reported on Oct. 7.
"The ammunition initiative was a good idea in principle... We will discuss it and demand greater transparency and a reassessment, possibly transferring it under NATO," said ANO leader Andrej Babis, according to Novinky.cz news outlet.
Back in July, the billionaire ex-prime minister told Reuters that if his party returns to power, it would cancel the initiative that has funneled hundreds of thousands of critically important artillery rounds to Ukraine amid Russian aggression.
The ANO leadership later suggested that the scheme could be overseen by NATO instead. The Czech Defense Ministry has dismissed the proposal, explaining that arms deliveries are a responsibility of individual countries, not the alliance as a whole.
"We're not talking about stopping the initiative, but about a thorough review. We need transparency," said Lubomir Metnar, an ANO lawmaker who served as defense minister in Babis's past government and might reportedly return to the position.
ANO won the Oct. 3-4 election with 34.5%, ousting the center-right coalition government that has provided steadfast support to Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.
Under the outgoing government, Czechia has supplied Kyiv with tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, helicopters, and other equipment, and hosted hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
In 2024, the Central European NATO member launched an initiative to alleviate Ukraine's shell shortages, allowing Western countries to quickly purchase rounds for Kyiv on global markets.
Czechia said it supplied 1.5 million shells under the initiative last year and plans to provide up to 1.8 million more by the end of 2025.
The Motorists for Themselves and the Freedom and Democracy Party (SPD), two fringe right-wing parties leading government negotiations with ANO, have differing views on the initiative.
While the Motorists said they did not oppose continuing the scheme, the far-right SPD called for an end to Czechia's military aid to Ukraine, describing it as an "escalation of the conflict."
ANO has previously criticized the outgoing government's support for Kyiv and Ukrainian refugees.
After his election win, Babis insisted that Ukraine is "not ready" to join the EU. He also said that Czechia supports Ukraine, but should limit the funds it provides to Kyiv in order to prioritize the needs of Czech citizens.
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