Babiš's big gamble
French Pres. Emmanuel Macron took a big gamble on June 9 by dissolving Parliament and calling snap elections, betting that he could slow the rise of Marine Le Pen's National Rally. He's now facing calls to resign as president if he suffers a defeat in the two rounds of parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7. Whether this development had a direct impact on Andrej Babiš's decision on Fri. to abandon Macron by pulling out of the Renew Europe group of the EU Parliament isn't entirely clear. Nobody asked about Macron at ANO's press conference, and Babiš didn't mention the person he had called "Europe's leader" and his "good old acquaintance and friend." Yet by leaving Renew/ALDE, Babiš is imitating Macron, with the big difference that he's essentially betting that Macron's vision of Europe is losing. Babiš is moving to the fringes in Europe while gambling that it will strengthen his position on the national level. If he's wrong, it could cost him the position next year of Czech PM.
Glossary of difficult words
gamble - a risky action undertaken with the hope of success;
to dissolve - to close down or dismiss (an assembly or official body);
snap election - an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled;
fringe/fringes - the outer, marginal or extreme part of an area, group or sphere of activity.