Disputes over the NATO summit: Who will actually lead the Czech delegation and what does the protocol say?

The nomination tug-of-war between the Castle and the Straka Academy over the leadership of the Czech delegation at the upcoming North Atlantic Alliance summit is escalating. The government has decided that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš will head the delegation, while President Petr Pavel is demanding adherence to customs or a compromise division of the agenda. But what are the realistic diplomatic options? "Accreditation for the head of the delegation was granted a long time ago, and it is no longer possible to change it, even in terms of time. It is practically impossible for the president to attend such a meeting without the accreditation that the Prime Minister already holds," explains political scientist Lukáš Valeš from NEWTON University in a report for TV Nova, detailing the strict rules of international protocol.

The Czech political scene is thus experiencing another sharp competence dispute. Despite a preliminary injunction from the Constitutional Court, which ensured the head of state the opportunity to travel to the summit (including with his own plane), the president's role at the meeting itself remains unclear. According to the head of diplomacy Petr Macinka, the program is still being fine-tuned, but the president will likely not attend the key informal dinners of the statesmen.

In addition to the government disputes, the report also maps the recent NATO parliamentary summit in Istanbul. There, the Czech Republic was represented by the heads of both chambers, Tomio Okamura and Miloš Vystrčil, who demonstrated to the allies their different views on fulfilling the two percent defense spending commitment as well as on the very form of military aid to Ukraine.

How much do domestic disagreements weaken our position abroad, and what rules in international diplomacy apply uncompromisingly? Watch the analysis of our experts in the full report on Televizní noviny.