Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called for a joint European air defence project dubbed "Europatriot" while attending a coalition-of-the-willing summit on Ukraine support in Paris on Monday, where he was welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The summit saw leaders of nine European nations agree with Ukraine to establish an integrated defence coalition against ballistic missiles. The signatories are Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. Babiš argued that Britain should be excluded from such a system and suggested the initiative model itself on Airbus-style industrial cooperation, expressing a desire to bring the Czech Republic into the framework.
Despite attending the broader summit, the Czech Republic does not participate in the ballistic defence initiative itself.