Czech President files lawsuit against government after being excluded from NATO summit delegation

Czech President Petr Pavel has filed a lawsuit against the countryʼs governmentʼs decision not to include him in the national delegation to the NATO summit, which will be held in Ankara on July 7-8.

He said this during his address to X.

He said he had filed a lawsuit on competence with the Constitutional Court to clarify the powers of the president and government to represent the country abroad. Pavel believes that his exclusion from the delegation is “an unprecedented and extremely unfortunate step”.

Pavel clarified that the countryʼs presidents have led the national delegation to 19 out of 20 past NATO summits. The only exception was due to the presidentʼs health.

Politico notes that the court is scheduled to hear the lawsuit on June 24.

• On the eve, June 22, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis reported that the president would not be able to join the delegation at the next NATO summit. He claims that this summit will be "not very pleasant for the country".
• It is expected that at this meeting the Czech Prime Minister plans to announce a reduction in defense spending to 1.8% of GDP, which is below NATOʼs target of 2%. At the same time, Pavel previously spoke out against these cuts and called them "irresponsible".

Author: Khrystyna Pitsuriak

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