Billionaire entrepreneur Andrej Babis led his party to victory in the October 2025 parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. His rise as an agricultural oligarch, backed by opaque Swiss money and connections, enabled his ascent to political power. After his party won the most votes in the Czech parliamentary election in October, Andrej Babis – the Slovak-born former prime minister and leader of the populist ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens) party – took to the stage to field questions from the press. The final question of the event came from Radio France, asked in French. As Babis listened, he began to smile gamely. “Comment ça va?” he teased, before responding in strongly accented French – evidently learned in school, but nevertheless fluent. The Swiss connection Babis was schooled not exclusively in Czechoslovakia, but in part in Geneva. While his father served on behalf of the socialist state at the United Nations, in a permanent business mission, Babis was taught for ...
