Pavel at the UN Session in New York: A Clash with Fico and Smiles with Pellegrini

Czech President Petr Pavel spent the first day of his New York visit paying respects at the memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and finding himself drawn into a public spat with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. The trip coincides with the UN General Assembly session, and its main goal is to secure support for the Czech Republic's bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2032–2033.

The program opened symbolically, at the site where the World Trade Center once stood before 2001. "The atmosphere there really gets to you. Most of us can still remember exactly what we were doing that day, because everyone was in shock. And that, essentially, was the whole point of the terrorism — to shock people, to instill horror and, through that, fear," Pavel recalled of the tragedy, which also claimed the lives of two Czechs.

A Spat with the Slovak Prime Minister

Even before flying to the US on Sunday, Pavel had called it a serious statement when Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he did not want Slovakia to be "dragged into some military conflict because of some Article 5" of the NATO charter. Fico shot back with a jibe about Pavel's former NATO position: "I understand that as a former NATO general, he'd probably like to go to war. In my case, I expect him to respect a course of peace," the Slovak prime minister said on Sunday evening.

Already in the US, Pavel responded even more sharply: "I've heard this kind of argument before — that a general is dragging the country into war while everyone else just wants peace. But there is no peace for someone who only pretends to want it while refusing to do anything to secure it. Unfortunately, peace can only be achieved through a readiness to respond to violence," he told reporters. The spat overshadowed part of the UN talks agenda — foreign journalists asked about it too, and the topic may well come up in Pavel's upcoming interview with The Atlantic.

Friction with His Own Minister

While the row with the Slovak prime minister grabbed headlines, another potential conflict — with Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka — stayed under wraps. Macinka flew to New York on a separate commercial flight, even though part of his Foreign Ministry team traveled with the president. A similar situation played out in July at the NATO summit in Ankara, when the delegations of the president and the government, led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, took different routes.

According to our sources, Pavel and Macinka did not meet on the first day of the visit, even though both were staying at the same hotel. The minister's absence was also noticed at the evening exhibition "Czechoslovak Tourist Posters" from the Nicolas D. Lowry collection at the Bohemian National Hall, which Pavel attended together with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini — Slovak ministers, including Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár, were also present. Macinka's spokeswoman Iveta Křížová explained that the minister was busy, attending an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting before heading to the Rising Nations gala dinner. According to the minister himself, his meeting with Pavel is expected later in the week — on Tuesday, during US President Donald Trump's address, and on Wednesday, at Pavel's own speech.

Defense and Plans for the Visit

At a press conference on Monday, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said he and the president were working together on a national defense project. "We will honor Article 5. There's no threat to our country — I discussed this at length with the president, and we'll present a project on our services at the next meeting of the State Security Council," Babiš said, without going into detail. Presidential spokesman Daniel Drake clarified that Pavel and Babiš had discussed the security of the Czech Republic and Europe, the importance of understanding the risks involved, and how prepared the security system is for possible scenarios.

On Tuesday, Pavel's schedule includes a high-level event on protecting children's rights in the context of artificial intelligence, organized by French President Emmanuel Macron.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz