President Petr Pavel acted like a bull in a china shop when, during his visit to Ukraine this week, he proposed providing Kyiv with several small aircraft for protection against UAVs, early warning devices, and generators in case of power outages from the main grid. This was stated by Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka on "Czech Television," as reported by UNN with reference to "Radio Prague."
Details
The head of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that President Pavel did not consult with the government regarding the proposal, which caused problems. "Partners from the (government) coalition knew nothing of the sort. He (the president) is not the one to speak, promise, propose, and negotiate such things. This is really not part of his duties," Macinka emphasized.
The head of diplomacy added that he was aware of Ukraine's interest in Czech aircraft; the Ukrainian side reported this during Macinka's visit to Ukraine in early January. "But I didn't promise anything to anyone, because I know that this is a delicate issue, especially for coalition partners, and it needs to be discussed behind closed doors first," he noted.
Additionally
During a recent visit to Kyiv, Czech President Petr Pavel announced Prague's readiness to provide Ukraine with several medium combat aircraft for combating UAVs in a short time. This refers to L-159 fighters, which are capable of effectively combating drones, as well as early warning systems.
Representatives of the ruling parties, ANO, SPD, and "Automobilists," will discuss this issue at the coalition council on Monday. The government has not yet commented on the situation, ČTK reports.
According to Macinka, by publicly voicing the proposal, the president rather reduced the likelihood that the Czech Republic would provide Ukraine with aircraft. "He acted like a bull in a china shop," said Petr Macinka. "Perhaps he should focus on some symbolic actions – laying wreaths, receiving state awards. But such a question is really not for him to decide, (the president) should coordinate his actions, ask about such things. But making statements to the media without dialogue with the government is really very counterproductive," added the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Former Defense Minister Jana Černochová told ČTK today that, if it concerns L-159 aircraft, at the time of her dismissal, the Czech Army needed all aircraft that were in operation. "The last information I received from the military was that there is currently no unnecessary equipment to transfer to Ukraine," she said. According to Jana Černochová, aircraft have a life cycle, and it is possible that some of them have exhausted their resources. "Then it would probably make sense," said the former minister, adding that she does not know whether the issue of allocating aircraft from reserves is being considered.