President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš did not agree on who will represent the Czech Republic at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Friday. The main topic of the meeting was the composition of the Czech delegation, which has become the subject of a sharp political dispute in recent weeks.

Pavel said after the meeting that he intends to attend the summit regardless of the government's position. He stressed that he considers representing the state abroad to be his constitutional competence. „I have to say that there was no consensus,“ the president told reporters after the meeting. He added that he still sees a competency lawsuit as a last resort, but if the government definitively rejects his participation, he is ready to consider it.

The President also proposed a compromise solution. He wants to participate in the informal part of the summit, i.e. the dinner of heads of state and the debate on European and global security. According to him, the official meeting would be attended by Prime Minister Babiš together with Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna. „I see it as a concession to the government,“ uvedl Pavel.

Babiš did not appear before journalists after the meeting. He left the Castle shortly after the meeting ended and headed to a commemorative event at Vítkov. The prime minister has repeatedly said that the government is responsible for foreign policy and that the government delegation should go to the summit. He said it was logical that the Czech commitments to NATO should be defended by the cabinet, which prepares the state budget and decides on defence spending.

Czech Foreign Minister Macinka also weighed in significantly, stating that the Foreign Ministry is the only body authorized to notify the composition of the Czech delegation to NATO. Pavel, on the other hand, recalls the previous constitutional practice where presidents and prime ministers regularly attended Alliance summits. He himself has attended all NATO summits since he took office - in Vilnius, Washington and The Hague.

The tension between the President and the representatives of the Motorists for Ourselves has been going on since the formation of the current government. In the past, Pavel has rejected some of the nominations associated with the party to the cabinet and now he is criticizing statements made by some of its politicians. The dispute over the NATO summit has thus become not only a foreign policy issue, but also another symbol of the growing tension within the Czech political representation.

gnews.cz - GH