President Pavel criticizes Czech army concept through 2040

Czech President Petr Pavel attended Monday’s cabinet meeting, where the concept for developing the army through 2040 was discussed. He reproached the cabinet for not making defence spending a priority and also spoke about Russian athletes and Russian gas.

The concept was presented by Defence Minister Jaromír Zůna (SPD). According to Pavel, the government favours other areas, even though the Czech Republic’s allies also face questions of priorities and shortages of funds, yet are still able to increase their defence spending.

The president stressed that criticizing the concept does not mean criticizing the army. “The army works with the task and the resources that politicians give it,” he said, adding that responsibility lies with the government.

Pavel also commented on the possible participation of Russian hockey players in world championships. In his view, athletes who represent the country, that is, the current regime, should not compete under the Russian flag at international tournaments. He recalled that Russia has been waging war since 2022 and has shown no desire to end it, so until the conflict is over he would not let Russian athletes into international arenas.

Speaking about normalizing relations with Moscow, the president said that until Russia itself shows a willingness to seek a peaceful solution, there can be no talk of it. He was responding to a question about the US administration’s idea of resuming Russian gas supplies to Europe. He called the idea a “bypass” that would help legitimize Moscow’s actions. “Russia must understand that there is no way to act other than through diplomatic negotiations,” Pavel said.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz