ANO party leader criticises "lack of transparency" around Czech shells-for-Ukraine initiative

ANO party leader Andrej Babiš has said in response to a letter from Defence Minister Jana Černochová that his party has never criticised giving aid to Ukraine, but rather criticises the lack of transparency surrounding the current Czech shells-for-Ukraine initiative, which he perceives primarily as a giant PR campaign.

Ms. Černochová wrote in her letter dated Tuesday that the former prime minister's attacks on the ammunition initiative were publicly damaging the image of the country and that national defence and security issues should remain separate from political campaigning, accusing him of trying to create the impression that the initiative is fraudulent in order to win the votes of extremists.

The ANO party leader wrote in response in a letter dated Friday that his party had never questioned the giving of aid to Ukraine or disputed the idea that Russia is the clear aggressor in the conflict, but that if the main goal of the shells initiative was really to help Ukraine, then it would not have been publicly discussed until after the delivery of the aid.