{"text":[[{"start":10.4,"text":"The frontrunner in the Czech election intends to break Prague’s pledge to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP if he wins office, joining Spain in rejecting the target demanded by US President Donald Trump."}],[{"start":26,"text":"Billionaire former premier Andrej Babiš, whose Eurosceptic ANO opposition party is leading polls ahead of October’s parliamentary elections, told the Financial Times that he remained an admirer of Trump but he wanted to prioritise domestic social spending."}],[{"start":43.629999999999995,"text":"“I’m a politician working for the Czech people and we are not subordinates, and maybe somebody has to explain to Mr Trump that 5 per cent is not realistic,” he said in an interview. “If Trump says that I have to jump from the window, I will not jump.’’"}],[{"start":60.66,"text":"The warning from Babiš, who has sparred with Brussels and questioned the EU’s continued support for Kyiv, could add strain to Nato and EU efforts to preserve unity on defence, as the bloc re-arms in response to Russian aggression and Trump’s demands."}],[{"start":78.11,"text":"Babiš — whose party sits in a group with France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the European parliament — said that President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” by attacking Ukraine, but that the Russian threat is overblown."}],[{"start":95.9,"text":"“I’m really not afraid of Putin, because we are already strong,” he said. “Are we saying that Putin who has a military budget 13 times smaller than Nato can do something against us, when he is luckily not even capable of moving 1km forward in Ukraine?”"}],[{"start":113.74000000000001,"text":"Russian forces in eastern Ukraine have been advancing at the fastest rate since November in recent weeks. Babiš said if he wins the election, he would not supply more aircraft and weapons for Ukraine and would halt a Czech-led initiative to purchase ammunition from third countries for Kyiv."}],[{"start":134.32,"text":"That stance has helped current premier Petr Fiala to portray the election as a choice between keeping Prague anchored within the EU and Nato, or allowing his opponent to side instead with pro-Russia governments in Hungary and Slovakia. Babiš “helps Vladimir Putin, it’s very clear”, Fiala told the FT earlier this year."}],[{"start":156.85999999999999,"text":"“To say that I’m helping Putin is a real lie. I never spoke with Putin, I never went to Russia as a politician but Fiala is now building this campaign about me being pro-Russian,” Babiš responded."}],[{"start":170.7,"text":"Fiala agreed with Nato allies last month to more than double defence spending from the current 2 per cent target. If Babiš wins the election and overturns that decision, the Czech Republic would be the second holdout after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who opted out saying that he wanted to protect the welfare state."}],[{"start":192.98,"text":"Prague had debt equivalent to 43 per cent of GDP at the end of last year, about half the EU average of 81 per cent, according to Eurostat."}],[{"start":205.17999999999998,"text":"The former Czech prime minister argued taxpayers’ money could be better spent than on building weapons stockpiles. “The world is now spending record amounts on arms but the word that is written nine times in the charter of Nato is peace,” he said. “Pedro Sánchez is telling the truth by saying that he needs money for the social system.”"}],[{"start":228.05999999999997,"text":"Babiš entered politics in 2011, launching ANO after building a business empire stretching from food to fertilisers. He became prime minister in 2017, but was ousted in 2021 after four years in power when Fiala’s Civic Democratic party managed to form a coalition to keep him out of government."}],[{"start":251.53999999999996,"text":"During his time in office he adopted a defiant stance towards Brussels, particularly after the European Commission demanded the reimbursement of EU funds received by his business Agrofert. A Czech high court last month overturned his previous acquittal to reopen a fraud trial related to EU subsidies. Babiš denies wrongdoing and called the case “nonsense”, invented by his political opponents."}],[{"start":279.98999999999995,"text":"Fiala’s party has been trailing behind in the polls amid internal feuding that prompted one of his coalition partners to abandon the government in October. Last month he survived a parliamentary vote triggered by a bitcoin scandal that forced his justice minister to resign. "}],[{"start":308.28,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1753058305_4765.mp3"}