Hlas leader and presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini and former Czech PM Andrej Babiš meet ahead of the second round of the Slovak presidential election in Bratislava on April 3, 2024. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
The Interior Ministry, led by Matúš Šutaj Eštok of Hlas, has reached a settlement with Czech opposition leader and former prime minister Andrej Babiš. This decision acknowledges that Babiš was wrongfully registered as a secret police informant under the alias ‘Bureš’ during the communist era.
Babiš’s decade-long legal battle centred on claims that he had cooperated with the notorious Štátna bezpečnosť (ŠtB), the Czechoslovak state security agency. Initially, he sued Slovakia’s Nation’s Memory Institute (ÚPN) after they published documents indicating his collaboration. After losing those court battles, Babiš took legal action against the Interior Ministry, which has now conceded.
The settlement, ratified by the Bratislava IV District Court 10 days ago but only announced on Monday, allows Babiš to avoid further hearings about his past. It marks a critical moment for the ANO party leader, who is seeking to regain the Czech premiership in next year’s elections.
