page_title: 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic
section_title: Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
hierarchical_section_title: 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic / Campaign / Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Předvolební stánek Občanské demokratické strany (ODS) 30. dubna 2019 před květnovými volbami do Evropského parlamentu. Umístěný tradičně na křižovatce ulic Česká, Veselá a Solniční v centru Brna.
context_page_description: The 2019 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic was held on 24 and 25 May 2019, electing the 21 members of the Czech delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.
  The result was a victory of the populist ruling party ANO, with 21.18 per cent and 6 seats, 2 more seats than in 2014 election. Followed by conservative ODS, with 14.54 per cent and 4 seats, marking a notable growth in the election. The Pirate Party also made major gains. SPD gained seats in its first European election, while KDU-ČSL, TOP 09/STAN and KSČM lost seats. ČSSD did not cross 5% threshold for the first time, as well as Svobodní.
context_section_description: The Civic Democratic Party is led by Jan Zahradil. The list of candidates was announced on 21 January 2018. It includes, besides Zahradil, MEP Evžen Tošenovský, former Minister of Defense Alexandr Vondra, MP Veronika Vrecionová and others. The party is a member of the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe. Zahradil is a leading candidate of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. The party focuses on reform of the European Union.
  The party introduced its election slogan "We are the Heart of Europe and we want to be heard" on 16 March 2019.
  ODS launched its campaign during a meeting on 2 May 2019. Zahradil stated that the party aims for a less bureaucratic and more flexible Europe. Petr Fiala, leader of ODS, stated that the party plans to support safe outer borders of the European Union, open borders within the European Union and free trade without "useless regulations". He also promised large-scale legal cleaning of European law.
  Zahradil reacted to the campaign of ANO 2011 that was launched on 2 May 2019. He noted that ODS previously used the slogan "Strong Czechia" during the campaign for the 2017 legislative election. He also stated that ANO 2011 copied the election program of ODS.
  ODS released a campaign advertisement on 12 May 2019. It reminds voters of previous and current scandals of Andrej Babiš.
  Civic Democratic Party concluded campaign on 24 May when Jan Zahradil was doing contact campaign along with supporters of the party and was handing out leaflets to voters.
caption: ODS election stand in Brno
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