The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, abbreviated EAFRD, is a European Union fund intended to support rural development. It is distinct from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF), which pays, among other things, direct payments to farmers.
In September 2026 the European Commission suspended for six months the deadline for reimbursing EUR 3.18 million, roughly CZK 77 million, from the EAFRD. It gave as the reason an inadequate handling of the possible conflict of interest of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. In a letter to the Czech authorities the Commission stated that the potential beneficiaries of the RSVP Trust trust fund are the descendants of Andrej Babiš. [1]
Minister of Agriculture Martin Šebestyán described the suspension as a provisional procedural step and stated that it concerns only the EAFRD, not the EAGF. According to him, the Commission has not issued a decision to suspend or exclude payments and has six months to give its final position. The minister said that the State Agricultural Intervention Fund cannot stop payments on its own at present. [1]
Petr Bendl, the ODS shadow cabinet minister of agriculture, called on Martin Šebestyán on the social network X to explain whose interests he defends if he is looking for arguments for sending further money to Agrofert. [1]