President and cabinet at loggerheads over country’s representation at NATO summit

President Petr Pavel has protested against the ruling coalition’s attempts to sideline him from the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara in July, saying that the foreign minister does not have the authority to prevent the head of state from representing the country abroad.

Speaking during a debate with students at Mendel University in Brno on Tuesday, Pavel argued that excluding the president from international representation would contradict his constitutional powers.

The prime minister earlier confirmed that he plans to attend the summit together with Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna, and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.

Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said in response to the criticism that the president should refrain from speaking about violations of the constitution when he himself is breaching it. He added that the country’s foreign policy is determined by the government, not the opposition, stressing that the Czech Republic does not have a presidential system. He previously labelled the president the unofficial leader of the opposition.