PRAGUE, Sept 29, (AP):  The main Czech opposition group led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis won an election Saturday for a third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, the Senate. The ruling coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala still retained a majority in the Senate. With all the votes from the two-day ballot counted, Babis’ ANO, or YES in English, won eight of the 27 seats up for grabs in the 81-seat Senate in the two-round election.

It’s the first time the centrist movement won that many seats in the chamber. The results are a boost for Babis ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections. ANO has been the most popular party and is favoured to win that vote. The candidates linked to the coalition won 15 seats. Parliament’s lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges.

In a separate vote last week, ANO dominated Czech regional elections, winning 10 of the 13 regions contested. The current Czech government firmly stands behind Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia. The country has donated arms, including heavy weapons, to the Ukrainian armed forces and is behind a plan to acquire artillery shells Ukraine badly needs from countries outside the European Union. Some 320,000 refugees from Ukraine currently live in Czechia.