Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has refused to resume regular foreign policy consultations with President Petr Pavel, deepening an open rift between the country's top constitutional officials. Babiš said on Sunday he would not take part in what he called Pavel's re-election campaign, after repeatedly labelling the president's attendance at the NATO summit in Ankara a "disgrace". Pavel, a former NATO general, was able to attend the summit only after a preliminary ruling by the Constitutional Court.
Martin Kupka, leader of the opposition Civic Democratic Party, characterised Babiš's attacks as the start of a campaign to block Pavel's re-election. Babiš, meanwhile, sought to downplay his own role at the summit, saying in a video that a dinner with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy focused on food and family rather than the war.
Pavel said at a festival in Slovakia on Saturday that he hoped tensions would ease, but warned he would pursue his own foreign policy if the government refused to coordinate. The president's office said its communications remain factual and non-confrontational.