Petr Fiala | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Fiala in 2022 | |
| Prime Minister of the Czech Republic | |
| Assumed office 28 November 2021 | |
| President | Miloš Zeman Petr Pavel |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Andrej Babiš |
| Leader of the Civic Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Petr Nečas |
| Minister of Education, Youth and Sports | |
| In office 2 May 2012 – 10 July 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Petr Nečas |
| Preceded by | Josef Dobeš |
| Succeeded by | Dalibor Štys |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| Assumed office 26 October 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 September 1964 Brno, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) |
| Political party | ODS (since 2013) |
| Spouse |
Jana Fialová (m. 1992) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Kramář's Villa, Prague |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | pfiala |
Petr Fiala (Czech pronunciation: [ˈpɛtr̩ ˈfɪjala]; born 1 September 1964) is a Czech politician and political scientist who has been the prime minister of the Czech Republic since November 2021 and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since 2014. He previously served as the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports from 2012 to 2013. Prior to entering politics, he was the rector of Masaryk University.
Fiala was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a non-partisan in the 2013 election. He won the 2014 Civic Democratic Party leadership election, promising to reform the party and regain public trust after a corruption scandal involving Prime Minister Petr Nečas. Fiala's party finished a distant second place in the 2017 legislative election, and remained in opposition despite multiple offers from the incoming Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to participate in his governing coalition.
In 2020, Fiala led the initiative for a centre-right electoral alliance with KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, known as Spolu. He became its candidate for the premiership in the 2021 Czech legislative election, running on a pro-Western and pro-European centre-right platform, focused on fiscal responsibility and closer relations with NATO as part of Atlanticism. The alliance outperformed initial opinion polls and received the highest number of votes in the election, though with one seat fewer in the Chamber of Deputies than second-placed ANO 2011.
Under Fiala's leadership, Spolu formed a coalition agreement with the Pirates and Mayors alliance, with a majority of 108 of 200 seats. He was appointed prime minister by President Miloš Zeman on 28 November 2021 and Petr Fiala's Cabinet took power on 17 December, making him the third oldest person to hold the office, as well as the first with a political science background and the first from Brno.
Fiala came into office promising to reform and stabilize the government's growing national debt; however, the early months of his premiership saw the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the provision of aid to Ukraine, and the opening of the Czech Republic's borders to the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita in the ensuing Ukrainian refugee crisis.[1] Fiala imposed sanctions on Russia and pushed to block Russian citizens from travelling to the European Union. He expressed strong support for Israel during the Israel–Hamas war. In 2022, the Czech Republic held the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Fiala's administration also faced rising inflation, concerns about the economy, the ongoing global energy crisis, fall of real wages and low approval ratings.