Outgoing coalition calls decision to skip NATO Assembly Forum “disgraceful”

Parties from the outgoing governing coalition have slammed the Organizing Committee of the lower house for rejecting a number of foreign trips tied to NATO and the European Union events. The decision, announced on Wednesday, means that Czechia will not send representatives to the Transatlantic Forum of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly next year. Outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala described the decision as disgraceful and a gamble with national security. Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský called the move unprecedented, warning that the Czech Republic is hurting its own interests.

The newly-elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura countered that the lower house would not serve as a “travel agency,” as he claimed it had under the leadership of his predecessor Markéta Pekarová Adamová.