President Pavel: Both he and PM Babiš could attend the upcoming NATO summit

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) may defend the Czech Republic’s defense spending at the July NATO summit, while the president could attend the informal part—namely the dinner of heads of state—even without a mandate from the government, Pavel said in an interview for the weekly Reflex.

According to a government resolution, Babiš is to attend the NATO summit together with Petr Macinka and Defense Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD). Babiš said on Monday that a government delegation would definitely attend and that he could not imagine what the president would be doing there at the same time. In his view, it would be illogical.

According to the opposition, the dispute over the president’s participation in the NATO summit illustrates chaos within the government.