President of Czechia sues Prime Minister over exclusion from NATO summit delegation
Kyiv • UNN
Petr Pavel challenges Andrej Babiš's decision not to include him in the NATO summit delegation. The lawsuit has been filed with the Constitutional Court to clarify the powers of the head of state.
Czech President Petr Pavel on Tuesday said he filed a lawsuit against the government, challenging Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's decision not to include him in the government delegation that will travel to the NATO summit in Ankara in July. Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
The competence lawsuit, filed with the Czech Constitutional Court, concerns determining who has the authority to decide whether the head of state can participate in the NATO summit. The court is to consider the case during a plenary session on Wednesday.
In his statement, Pavel argued that Babiš is trying to "exclude" him from the summit and thereby "limit the role guaranteed to him by the Constitution."
The president noted that his predecessors participated in all previous NATO summits, and that he has been present at every alliance meeting since taking office in 2023.
After months of dispute over who will represent Prague in Ankara, Babiš on Monday said the head of state cannot be in the official delegation because "this summit will be different from previous ones."
During the upcoming meeting, the prime minister is expected to explain the decision to cut core defense spending to approximately 1.8% of GDP, below NATO's 2% target. Babiš's decision not to include Pavel in the delegation may be linked to the former general's opposition to the cuts, calling them "irresponsible."
Babiš on Tuesday said he respects the president's decision to file the lawsuit but does not consider it a good idea.
It is unacceptable for constitutional officials to file lawsuits against each other
The dispute is another escalation of tense relations between the two Czech politicians, who competed in the 2023 presidential election.
In his statement, Pavel emphasized that this conflict is "really not about one seat at one international meeting," but about the distribution of power.
If I did not defend these powers, I would bear partial responsibility for opening the door to further arbitrary limitation of the powers of constitutional officials