Macinka: President Pavel "hit the nail on the head" at the UN, Fico didn't undermine Article 5

Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists movement), in an interview given in New York shortly after President Petr Pavel's address to the UN General Assembly, unexpectedly praised the head of state's speech — despite having been locked in a public dispute with him for months. According to the minister, Pavel's remark that UN rules are binding on everyone, including those capable of breaking them, "hit the nail on the head" and captured the essence of multilateralism perfectly.

Macinka explained the sudden change in tone by saying that both sides have "left at home" their domestic political standoff and have no intention of taking it abroad. He said he and the president met twice over breakfast in the US and had a substantive conversation, even though Macinka had previously accused Pavel of an "extreme case of cohabitation of powers," and the president had filed a police complaint against the minister.

Stance on the Threat from Russia

Macinka commented on recent statements by counterintelligence chief Michal Koudelka, who said a limited Russian incursion into NATO territory could occur within months. The minister stressed that, according to an official statement from the Security Information Service (BIS), the agency has no data pointing to any current threat to the Czech Republic, and that Koudelka's remarks in his interview with The Guardian were, in his view, interpreted more dramatically than intended.

At the same time, Macinka acknowledged that the Czech Republic lives "in a world of threats" but not "in a world of war," and criticized the escalating rhetoric around a possible invocation of NATO's Article 5, comparing the discussion to "a supermarket flyer."

The minister also came to the defense of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who said he did not want Slovakia dragged into a military conflict "over some Article 5." Macinka called this a "trivialization" of Fico's words, pointing out that the prime minister never denied the article's existence.

Separately, Macinka commented on SPD lawmaker Jindřich Rajchl's participation in an event where an ideologue close to Vladimir Putin — who is under sanctions — spoke online. The minister said he does not judge lawmakers by which events they attend, only by what they say there, and suggested Rajchl's presence might have amounted to "not bad intelligence-gathering."

The Budget and the Motorists' Promises

Discussing the state budget, Macinka admitted that his party managed to negotiate with the Finance Ministry only a nominal deficit reduction of 3 billion crowns, though the actual cut in spending will amount to roughly 20 billion crowns, with the deficit expected to shrink by at least another 60 billion crowns by 2028. The minister rejected accusations that the party had failed to deliver on its campaign promise to "keep an eye on" Babiš's spending, saying the actual campaign slogan was different — "finish off Fiala, keep an eye on Babiš."

Macinka conceded that he personally dislikes the current budget and that his party would have drafted it differently had it held the finance ministry post, but he insisted the 23-billion-crown reduction is a genuine measure, not a "cosmetic" one. He said the entire Motorists parliamentary caucus will back the budget bill, despite criticism from the party's economic expert Vladimír Pikora, who is expected to vote "yes" with a heavy heart.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz