Pavel and Babiš remain divided over Czech delegation to NATO summit

President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš remain at odds over the makeup of the Czech delegation to July’s NATO summit in Ankara. Speak to journalists after talks at Prague Castle on Friday, Pavel said he still plans to attend, despite Babiš arguing that the president should not be part of the delegation.

Pavel said representing the country abroad is a constitutional power of the president. He added that he would consider filing a constitutional complaint only as a last resort if he is ultimately excluded from the summit. The government is expected to decide on the delegation in June.

The president said he insists on attending the opening part of the summit, including an informal dinner of heads of state and discussions on global security. The official talks, he said, could then be attended by Babiš together with the foreign and defence ministers.