Czech president: NATO tries not to upset United States

The effectiveness of NATO summits in recent years has been undermined by member states’ efforts to avoid upsetting the United States, Czech President Petr Pavel has stated.

He said the alliance summits would benefit if, in addition to the official part, informal debates between heads of state and government were resumed, Caliber.Az reports, citing Czech media.

“NATO summits in recent years have suffered from the effort [by member states] not to anger the strongest member of the alliance, namely the United States,” Pavel said. “The alliance summits would benefit if, in addition to the official part, informal debates between heads of state and government were resumed,” he noted.

The Czech government is set to approve the country’s delegation for the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara on June 22.

Pavel has insisted on taking part, although government representatives have previously argued that the president should not be included in the Czech delegation.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov