Czechs mainly want Babiš at the NATO summit in Ankara, followed by Pavel

The Czech Republic’s interests at the NATO summit in Ankara this July should primarily be represented by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. In a recent poll conducted by the NMS agency for the news server Novinky.cz, 57 percent of respondents supported his participation. Roughly half of those surveyed would also like to see President Petr Pavel and Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD) at the meeting of statesmen. Less than one-third of respondents would like Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) to travel to Ankara.

The dispute between the Presidential Office and the government over participation in the NATO summit continues even after Friday’s meeting between Pavel and Babiš. Pavel insists on attending, while Babiš believes that the president should not be part of the delegation. The president argues on constitutional grounds and did not rule out considering a constitutional lawsuit, although he is not preparing one at the moment. According to Babiš, the government should represent its positions and defence spending at the summit, as it is responsible for the state budget. The government will decide on the composition of the delegation in June. The summit in Ankara will take place on July 7 and 8.