Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has won the Czech Republic’s parliamentary elections, but his populist ANO party failed to secure an outright majority, according to preliminary results.

With nearly all votes counted, ANO received just under 35% of the vote, giving it 81 seats in the 200-member lower house.

Babis, who previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021, is now expected to begin talks on forming a new coalition government.

Babis is likely to start negotiations with two small right-wing eurosceptic parties,Motorists for themselves, which opposes the EU’s Green Deal, and the anti-immigration Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, led by Tomio Okamura. A partnership with both would be needed to secure a majority.

ANO shares common ground with the Motorists, as both oppose the EU’s climate targets and the planned 2035 ban on petrol and diesel car sales. However, relations with the SPD could be tense, since SPD allied with far-right groups and supports holding referendums on EU and NATO membership, proposals Babis firmly rejects.

During his campaign, Babis criticized the outgoing government for favoring Ukrainian refugees over Czech citizens, but he is unlikely to support SPD’s demand to deport refugees.

Analysts say Babis might instead choose to lead a minority government supported informally by the two smaller parties.