Orbán loses, Babiš wins

Vice PM Karel Havlíček, who had become the biggest war hawk in the government of Andrej Babiš in early March by declaring categoric support for the attack on Iran, took a step back on CNN Prima News on Fri. It's too soon to judge the situation, Havlíček said, because the action taken by the U.S. and Israel is understandably highly controversial. On the other hand, he said, we must also take into account the real threat that Iran could develop a nuclear weapon. Babiš had already modified the bellicose tone by agreeing with Friedrich Merz's opinion of the war. With Viktor Orbán's defeat yesterday in the Hungarian elections, Babiš and Havlíček can now afford an even bigger break with Trump on the issue of the Iran war and defense spending. There's a new void in Trump's European buddy list, and this makes the Czech government all that more important to the Americans. Orbán's exit gives Babiš more leverage to tell Trump in Ankara that he's with him on civilizational issues, but not on 5% defense spending.