Agrofert a.s. vs ČSSD a.s., EU venue

Pardubice Gov. Martin Netolický of ČSSD quietly dropped his idea of becoming the head of the Association of the Regions after it became clear that Jana Mračková Vildumetzová of ANO would be reelected. She ultimately won 11 of the 14 votes last week in a silent ballot, and it's probably a safe bet that two of the three naysayers were Netolický and Pilsen Gov. Josef Bernard. With Bohuslav Sobotka and Milan Chovanec gone, they are the leading representatives of what is left of what we call ČSSD a.s. (Don't confuse it with ČSSD.) Andrej Babiš is fighting two battles with this arch enemy, one on the domestic level, and one in the EU. He's winning domestically, as witnessed by his growing poll numbers and by the way Netolický's regional aspirations were dashed. However, every victory on the domestic level makes the EU battle all that more important for those on the other side. It will all come down to which of the two political-commercial groups Brussels decides to favor.