[7] His time in office was also marked by legal disputes with the European Commission due to accusations of conflict of interest and allegations of EU subsidy fraud.

[9][10][11][12][13] Andrej Babiš was born on 2 September 1954 in Bratislava to a Slovak father from Hlohovec and a Carpathian German mother from Yasinia, now Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine.

One reviewer of the book said the account "captures much of what has led Czechs to the conviction that they live in a corrupted, clientist country – and (paradoxically) then to vote for the ANO movement.

[29][30] These acquisitions have led critics to question Babis's political motives,[31] amid accusations that he was amassing too much power, and that the media outlets he controls publish sympathetic coverage of him.

[35] During his tenure in this role, Babiš introduced controversial policies such as electronic registration of sales, known as EET, proposed reverse charging of value-added tax, and VAT control statement for companies.

His critics claimed he was tightening regulations on small and medium-sized enterprises and sole proprietorship while turning a blind eye to big corporations, to the benefit of his own Agrofert holding.

[37] In May 2015, after the government's decision to extend reduced taxation of biofuels (a segment of the fuel market controlled significantly by companies in the Agrofert portfolio), the opposition initiated a vote of no confidence against the cabinet.

[54] They also proposed changes to the Civil Service Act, which has been the subject of controversy since it was passed in 2015 by Bohuslav Sobotka's government, in which Babiš served as Minister of Finance.

[56] On 6 June 2018, President Zeman appointed Andrej Babiš as prime minister for the second time, calling on him to present him with a proposed list of members of the government.

"[61] On 11 November 2018, Babiš represented the Czech Republic in a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Babiš's time in office was marked by a rocky relationship with the European Commission due to his alleged conflict of interest and involvement of his companies in EU subsidies, as well as an informal power alliance with President Miloš Zeman and the Communist Party – both of which triggered heavy criticism from the opposition, activists and the media.

His government adopted policies focused on raising the retirement age and reducing pensions,[67] while increasing child tax credits[68] and the salaries of senior politicians.

One of the biggest demonstrations, entitled "Demisi" (Resign) took place on 17 November at the statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in Hradčanské Square in Prague, organised by the campaign group "A Million Moments for Democracy".

Concerns about the possible impact of Benešová's appointment on the progress of the Stork's Nest case triggered further public protests, again organized primarily by the Million Moments Association.

On 3 June 2019, Babiš met in Prague with the Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, with whom he spoke about economic cooperation, education and health development.

[78] In the week before the election (early January 2023), he was considered the frontrunner, alongside the retired army general and former Chair of the NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel.

[79] Babiš refused to attend the pre-election public debates, with the exception of TV NOVA, stating that "the media want to make a show of the presidential election".

[80] His prospects in the election improved significantly at the beginning of January 2023, after he was cleared by the Municipal Court in Prague in an alleged fraud case involving misuse of EU subsidies.

[90] The British newspaper The Guardian wrote that in 2009 Babiš, through a "convoluted offshore structure" "to hide ownership of the companies or property" and "secret loans", moved funds from the Czech Republic without taxation to buy real estate in France, including the Château Bigaud in Mougins.

"[90] According to the documents of the National Memory Institute in Slovakia, Babiš collaborated with the State Security Police (StB) of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, under the code name agent Bureš.

[96] The District Court in Bratislava issued a ruling on 26 June 2014 that there was insufficient evidence to put Andrej Babiš on a list of intentional cooperators with StB.

[103][104][105] Opposition MP Miroslav Kalousek (TOP 09) said that it no longer mattered what information the Slovak National Memory Institute had about Babiš, because his behaviour as a politician had proven his StB training.

Writing in The Washington Post, she suggested that old labels from Soviet Communist days, such as "useful idiots" and "fellow travelers", were no longer adequate to describe Babis and the other figures she had named.

[112] Babiš was accused of illegally obtaining €2 million in EU subsidies designated for small businesses by concealing his ownership of a farm and a convention center called "Storks Nest".

[126][127] Babiš Junior was quoted as saying he had been held in Crimea, Kaliningrad, Moscow and Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine, to stop him from giving a statement to the police about his involvement in the case.

[128][129][130] This has since been denied by Babiš Junior, who stated that his schizophrenia was a false diagnosis and he is no longer taking his pills, though he did not support his statement with medical evidence.

[133] Babis has been criticized by media and opposition politicians for his alleged conflict of interest,[134][135] as the Minister of Finance and the owner of companies subsidized by EU funding programmes.

During a visit to the Czech Republic in March 2014, the German Member of the European Parliament Ingeborg Gräßle expressed concern that someone with such a personal financial interest simultaneously being a leading representative of a state, could not guarantee to the EU that its resources are properly distributed.

[139] On 17 June 2015, Babiš met with Šincl and accused him of corruption and taking bribes from businessman and senator Ivo Valenta, owner of the Synot gambling group.

[142] On 1 May 2017, Twitter account @skupinasuman posted a tape of Babiš's private conversations with an unknown number of people, in which he labelled Minister of Foreign Affairs Lubomír Zaorálek as an "idiot" and attacked investigative journalist Sabina Slonková, among others.