"Will you sign my stork?": schoolchildren moved Babiš during pre-election tour

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, as part of a pre-election tour of the South Moravian Region, visited the towns of Šlapanice, Bučovice and Rousínov in the Vyškov district. He made the trip ahead of the municipal and Senate elections together with Finance Minister and head of the South Moravian ANO organization Alena Schillerová, and in Rousínov dozens of local schoolchildren unexpectedly surrounded the prime minister, asking him to sign a drawing of a stork for them.

Irony about the budget and a call to the transport minister

The tour began in the morning in Šlapanice near Brno — a town where ANO did not even field a candidate list for the municipal elections. It was here that Babiš learned the opposition was pushing to convene an extraordinary session of the Chamber of Deputies for a vote of no confidence in the government. "I'm extremely glad about the upcoming extraordinary session. We know what we're doing — Mrs Schillerová put together an excellent budget. We're not implicated in either the bitcoin case or the Dozimetr scam," the prime minister said, alluding to corruption scandals of past years.

The rival of ANO's Senate candidate Absolonová also came in for criticism — South Moravian Region Governor and Christian Democrat chairman Jan Grolich. "Our Senate candidate is young, pretty and naive. But that's what she decided. I don't understand why the governor is even running for the Senate," Babiš commented.

The meeting was attended mostly by several dozen elderly voters, joined by local high-school students, who eagerly posed for photos with the prime minister. When someone from the audience asked why Czechia still hasn't enshrined in law a two-second following distance between cars, Babiš dialed Transport Minister Ivan Bednárik's number on the spot. "Let's call Bednárik and see if he picks up," the prime minister said — and the minister did indeed answer the call.

"Will you sign my stork?"

After a stop in Bučovice, Babiš continued on to Rousínov, where ANO is likewise not taking part in the municipal elections. About thirty loyal supporters awaited him there, unexpectedly joined by some twenty schoolboys and schoolgirls. Some of the children unabashedly grabbed two promotional caps at once and posed for photos with the prime minister without a second thought.

"Will you sign my stork?" one of the boys asked, explaining to journalists that the drawing was for a school exhibition dedicated to a stork's nest. The phrase inevitably echoes the name "Čapí hnízdo" ("Stork's Nest") — the high-profile case of fraud involving European subsidies that has dogged Babiš for many years.

One elderly onlooker told Babiš: "I see light at the end of the tunnel in you, sir." Another introduced himself as a witness in the Stork's Nest case, without specifying exactly what he intended to testify about. "That's not necessary — it's a rigged trial," Babiš said, declining the offer of help.

Read also: Brno: what to see and where to go

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz