Czech Republic’s refusal to transfer L-159 aircraft to Ukraine was revenge against President Pavel, - country’s Foreign Ministry
Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macečka said that the government's position on the transfer of L-159 fighter jets to Ukraine is linked to President Petr Pavel's intransigence regarding the appointment of Filip Turek as Minister of the Environment and media coverage.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in messages from Macečka to presidential adviser Petr Kolarz, as reported by iDnes.
What is known?
In his letter, Macečka stated the need to appoint Turek as Minister of Environmental Protection.
"If not, I will burn bridges in such a way that it will go down in political science textbooks as an extreme case of coexistence (of branches of power). I have the support of the prime minister on this issue, not to mention the position of the SPD," Macečka wrote.
"If he does nothing or at least does not agree to some negotiations on Turek at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the consequences will be very unexpected for him (and not only for him)," he added.
Aircraft for Ukraine
The head of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs also mentioned President Pavel's statements regarding the transfer of L-159 aircraft to Ukraine in his statement.
After media reports about the possible sale of these aircraft and corresponding statements by Pavel Macečka, he openly criticized the president, and the government soon announced that the sale of the aircraft was impossible.
"As for the L-159s for Ukrainians, the only reason they won't get them is because Petr Pavel rashly told the media about it. I could have convinced Tomio (just as I talked to him about the ammunition initiative). But now it's impossible. Even this truth may become known to many (on Wednesday)," Macečka said in a message to the presidential adviser.
Macečka believes that he was able to convince the anti-Ukrainian speaker of parliament, Tomio Okamura, who heads the coalition "Freedom and Direct Democracy," of the need to continue the shell initiative for Ukraine and could do the same with regard to aircraft. However, according to him, due to media coverage, this now seems impossible.
Pavel's reaction
The Czech president considers the content of the messages to be extremely serious.
"I consider the foreign minister's words in text messages to be an attempt at blackmail. I find this unacceptable and completely intolerable in our democratic conditions," Pavel said.
Pavel is convinced that the foreign minister does not have the support of the prime minister, and that his party, Motorists, does not care about the interests of the Czech Republic, but only wants to make a controversial figure a minister.
"For my part, I can say that intimidation does not work on me, and I will continue to be guided primarily by the constitution and the interests of the Czech Republic. I am filing a report with the security authorities and intend to forward the messages to lawyers to assess whether this constitutes blackmail," the Czech leader concluded.
What preceded it?
- During his visit to Kyiv, Czech leader Petr Pavel announced his readiness to transfer combat aircraft to Ukraine for the destruction of Russian drones.
- Subsequently, the Czech Foreign Ministry criticized Pavel's statement regarding the possible supply of aircraft to Ukraine without government approval.
