Early political career From 1990 until 1992, Zahradil was a Member of the Federal Assembly of the
Czech and Slovak Federative Republic. From 1995 until 1997, he was a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister
Václav Klaus. In 1998, Zahradil was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies, and held that position until 2004. Zahradil was elected vice-chairman of ODS in 2001 and served as first vice-chairman between 2002 and 2004. In 2002, after the departure of
Václav Klaus as leader of ODS, he ran for the leadership, but finished third in the election behind
Mirek Topolánek and
Petr Nečas. He was also vice-chairman of ODS from 2014 to 2016.
European Parliament In October 2018, Zahradil announced his intention to become the
European Conservatives and Reformists Group's candidate for the European Commission presidency. He was endorsed by the ECR Group on 13 November, making him the first
Spitzenkandidat from Eastern Europe. Zahradil has been president of the
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe (ACRE) since it was founded in 2010. In 2023, Zahradil resigned as chair of the ODS European parliament group. At the same time, he announced that he would not be a candidate in the European Parliament elections in 2024. He was replaced by MEP
Veronika Vrecionová as chair of the ODS parliamentary group, and by
Alexandr Vondra as the leader of the ODS candidate list for the European Parliament elections. One of the reasons for Jan Zahradil's departure from European politics was reported to be the alliance of ODS with the Czech centre-right parties
TOP 09 and
KDU-ČSL in the
Spolu coalition. Zahradil's Eurosceptic views were a potential obstacle to this alliance. He resigned his membership of ODS in 2025.
Azerbaijan Statements and later Prime Minister
Petr Fiala Zahradil made controversial statements whitewashing
European Parliament's criticisms on the state of human rights in
Azerbaijan, mentioned in three European Parliament resolutions in the period of 2015–2018. He called the resolutions "short-sighted, one-sided, one-issue resolutions" and argued that Azerbaijan is a "victim of political games" asserting that the EU should not sacrifice its partnership with Azerbaijan because of its geopolitical and energy significance for Europe. In April 2018 a
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe investigation revealed that Azerbaijan blindfolded several members of
PACE, bringing into play the infamous
caviar diplomacy to tone down and soothe criticism towards Azerbaijan. These members were subjected to sanctions. Commenting on these events, Zahradil said: "The Council of Europe has made unilateral and biased decisions on Azerbaijan and it should be abolished". ==Political views==