Czech PM foresees coalition government with Communists
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Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says his leftist Social Democrats are ready to form a coalition government with the hardline Communist Party after this year's parliamentary elections.
It would be the first time the Communists would get a chance to share power since the 1989 Velvet Revolution toppled 40 years of their often-bloody rule.
Unlike many other communist parties that have joined the left-wing mainstream, the Czech party has maintained its hardline stance. It is vehemently opposed to NATO and maintains friendly ties with the ruling communists in Cuba, China and North Korea.
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In Friday's interview with the business daily Hospodarske Noviny, Sobotka said a coalition with the Communists "is not a problem" anymore.
The centrist ANO movement led by Finance Minister Andrej Babis is a favorite to win October's ballot.