Czech government to decide NATO summit delegation on June 22

The Czech government will decide on June 22 who will represent the country at July’s NATO summit, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced on Friday.

President Petr Pavel, who has attended every NATO summit since taking office, insists on being part of the delegation. Babiš argues that defence spending should be presented by the government and has previously said the president should not attend. Pavel is due to join a cabinet meeting on June 8 to discuss coordination at major international summits.

Pavel says both he and the prime minister could attend, each focusing on different aspects of the summit. He is reportedly prepared to file a constitutional complaint if he is excluded.