Foreign minister says president will receive NATO summit mandate

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka says President Petr Pavel will receive an official mandate for next week’s NATO summit in Ankara, contradicting the president’s earlier claim that the government had not provided one. Macinka said the mandate is included in the government’s resolution and in a briefing document for all members of the Czech delegation. Separately, Macinka dismissed calls by the governing SPD party to strip Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Lion, saying Czech law provides no legal mechanism to revoke the honour and describing the proposal as a political gesture.