The Castle and the government are looking for common ground. Disputes over ministers, diplomacy and the army continue, regular meetings are cancelled

On Wednesday, 4 February 2026, Czech President Petr Pavel met with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The meeting focused mainly on current political disputes, foreign policy coordination and security issues. Both constitutional officials agreed on the need to seek compromise solutions across political issues and to calm tensions between the various institutions of the state.

During the meeting, the President expressed his conviction that the Prime Minister would dampen any possible differences between coalition partners and individual ministers so as to avoid situations threatening Czech interests or weakening the Czech Republic's position abroad.

Both Pavel and Babiš stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must continue to cooperate with the President and the Office of the President of the Republic. According to them, a possible break in communication would fundamentally limit the functioning of Czech foreign policy and the exercise of important state functions.

The strained relations were sparked in particular by text messages from Foreign Minister Petr Macinka that were published last week by an adviser to the president. The head of state described them as an attempt at blackmail. Macinka, however, rejects the allegations and has no plans to apologise or resign. The dispute is mainly related to the president's decision not to appoint Filip Turek as environment minister.

Pavel reiterated during the meeting that his decision was final and fully in line with the Constitution. He stressed that he based his opinion on constitutional arguments and that only the Constitutional Court could consider the contrary. The President also said that he was ready to appoint a new minister if the Prime Minister submitted a different proposal. Babiš confirmed that he considered the issue of Turk's appointment to be closed.

Regular meetings of the highest constitutional officials will no longer continue

One of the results of the meeting is a change in the format of foreign policy coordination. The existing regular meetings of the highest constitutional officials, which were attended by the presidents of the parliamentary chambers and the foreign minister, will no longer continue. The Prime Minister announced that he would continue to discuss foreign policy with the President individually, while the Head of State would negotiate bilaterally with other officials. Paul suggested that meetings with the prime minister should be held regularly at intervals of four to six weeks or as needs arise.

The President and the Prime Minister also addressed the issue of ambassadorial nominations. The government recently revoked the previous cabinet's resolution on their selection and wants to renegotiate the nominations.

Pavel stressed that the President's power to appoint and remove heads of embassies is unquestionable and that the nominations will be handled jointly with the Prime Minister. In the same way, they want to coordinate participation in international summits.

The meeting between the President and the Prime Minister was followed by a meeting of the State Security Council at the Straka Academy, which was also attended by President Pavel. The Council focused on current security issues and, in particular, on the Czech Republic's fulfilment of its NATO commitments. The discussion focused on defence spending, the development of the Czech Army's capabilities and the need to prepare a new concept of the army.

The Prime Minister said that the Czech Republic must fulfil its commitments, for example, in the area of building a ground brigade, anti-drone measures or air defence. He said the defence minister should prepare a proposal by the end of May so that it could be discussed before the NATO summit in July.

The State Security Council also took note of the action plan for the National Strategy for Countering Hybrid Activities for the period 2026-2027, approved the work plan for this year and established a committee for the award of the Distinguished Contribution Award in the field of security policy. It also discussed modifications to the civil aviation security programme and a report on the development of the National Cyber and Information Security Authority.

gnews.cz - GH