Defence Minister Zůna to speak on military matters, foreign policy to be communicated by PM

Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (nominated by SPD) will in future comment on the army and its provision, while the government’s positions on foreign policy issues, including Ukraine, will be communicated by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), SPD deputy leader Radim Fiala told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) on Monday after party leaders met for consultations.

The SPD was put out by Zůna’s remarks at a Friday press conference, which concerned support for Ukraine and the continuation of the Czech ammunition initiative, which failed to reflect the SPDs stance. Fiala later said Zůna was new to office and had used an unfortunate turn of phrase in commenting on the initiative.