Czech president, prime minister clash over leadership as both pack for NATO summit

PRAGUE, June 29 - The Czech government agreed under court pressure on Monday to let President Petr Pavel attend a NATO summit in Turkey next week but refused to allow him to lead the country's delegation, laying bare their rift over defence spending.

Ankara will host 32 NATO leaders on July 7-8, amid tensions over burden-sharing, defence spending, and U.S. complaints about allies' lack of involvement in re-opening the Strait of Hormuz.

The Czechs are bringing an awkward spat of their own, as they cannot agree who will sit at key meetings.

Presidents, although they do not formulate foreign policy in the Czech political system, have led national delegations at nearly all NATO gatherings since the Czechs joined the alliance in 1999.

Pavel, a former army general and head of NATO's military committee, and strong supporter of more defence spending and aiding Ukraine, has been keen to attend the summit.

The populist government led by billionaire and Donald Trump fan Andrej Babis, which has refused to raise defence spending, has sought to edge him out.

The country's Constitutional Court last week issued an injunction, pending further deliberations, ordering the government to allow Pavel to attend.

The government said on Monday it would comply but insisted that Babis will lead the delegation and attend the main meetings. He said Pavel's views differed from the government on issues such as defence aid to Ukraine, which the government refuses to fund.

"The best would be if he does not insist on taking part," Babis told a news conference, adding that Pavel could go to the following summit next year.

Pavel insisted he would lead the delegation and had the right to take part in the leaders' dinner and in the plenary session the next day, while respecting the government's positions.

"The government should follow the custom to date until the court makes a ruling," he said. "The president as head of state should have the opportunity to represent... as the head of the delegation."

Babis has argued that he needs space to explain Czech policies, including not meeting a NATO target for spending at least 2% of national output on defence last year.

The Czechs are on course to miss the target again this year after the government cut $1 billion from defence versus a budget left behind by the previous administration, and have not presented a plan on how to reach an alliance target of 3.5% by 2035. REUTERS