Pavel says Babiš may be better placed to explain Czech defence spending at NATO summit

President Petr Pavel said on Thursday that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš might be better placed to explain to NATO allies why the Czech Republic is not meeting its defence spending commitments. Pavel made the comment in reaction to Babiš’s proposal that he and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka should attend the alliance’s July summit in Turkey instead of the president.

Pavel said he only learned on Wednesday about the suggestion that Babiš and Macinka should represent the Czech Republic at the meeting, which has traditionally been attended by the head of state.

Earlier on Thursday, Babiš told reporters before leaving for the EU summit in Brussels that government representatives would be better placed than the president to explain the relatively low level of Czech defence spending this year to allies, including U.S. President Donald Trump.