Czech EP candidate brought down by video of him singing Nazi anthem

The political career of 23-year-old Milan Zavada has ended before it could even begin. The youth who has been running for the ANO movement of Czech Deputy Prime Minister Babiš in this year’s EP elections has had his hopes dashed by an imprudent home video recording of him at a drunken party of adolescents.   

News server Týden.cz reports that the video shows Zavada making anti-Semitic statements, singing the Nazi anthem, and then urinating into the center of the room. Prior to the footage coming to light, he helped ANO’s lead candidate Pavel Telička during some of the movement’s EP campaign events.  

Zavada has said he considers the anti-Semitic spree to have been a prank:  "I was just a normal adolescent. I grew up at a time when everyone had mobile phones with cameras in them… I have repaid my debt to society by working in a hospital and for various charities. My conscience is clean," he has said.

The ANO movement promptly responded to the Týden.cz revelations by disqualifying Zavada from the elections. "We suggested he resign immediately and he accepted. We discussed it – he never intended to harm the movement. He is very sorry," ANO spokesperson Lucie Kubovičová said.     

Zavada was the 26th candidate on the list and there are only 21 seats available to the Czech Republic in the European Parliament. Be that as it may, he will no longer be collaborating with the ANO movement.