In an interview with Yvropeiska Pravda (European Truth) published on Saturday, Czech President Petr Pavel called for Czech troops to be part of any peacekeeping force in Ukraine formed after the conclusion of a peace agreement. Yesterday Interior Minister Vit Rakusan (STAN) and other politicians backed the president’s comments, while opposition leader Andrej Babis said he was against such a step.
In Pavel’s interview, which was also quoted by Ukrainska Pravda, he stated that the Czech Republic is participating in the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’, a group of countries that are in discussions about a possible peacekeeping force. He added that when the common will to deploy such a force is found, the Czech Republic should also be part of it.
“Different politicians may have different views, but if there is a strong group of European nations willing to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, I firmly believe that the Czech Republic should be among them,” Pavel said, adding that it was in the country’s interest.
Earlier on Friday, after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Czech president told a news conference in Kyiv that he believed it was premature to talk specifics about Czech involvement in a possible peacekeeping mission until it had been sufficiently discussed. However, he stressed that “if a decision is reached to create such a joint military force, the Czech Republic will be part of it.”
Responding yesterday on social media to Pavel’s comments, Rakusan agreed that the Czech Republic should join the collective peacekeeping activities of European countries and other allies.
“We cannot rely on France, Germany, Poland or anyone else to solve the problems for us. The size of a country does not only lie in its size and population, but also in the size of the tasks it takes on,” he wrote. “[Peacekeepers] must have a clearly defined function and mandate, namely to supervise compliance with the ceasefire or the terms of peace between Ukraine and Russia. The Czech Republic, as one of the countries that Russia still has in its mental sphere of influence, should in no way abandon its responsibility for finding a long-term sustainable peace solution.”
Environment Minister Petr Hladik (KDU-CSL) said Czech soldiers have already participated in a number of peacekeeping missions and if they were sent to Ukraine, it would have to be as part of peacekeeping forces or training. “In any case, not on the battle line, and only after peace has been made,” Hladik said.
However, Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) told TV Nova that such questions were premature until a ceasefire was negotiated. “We are now focusing on supporting the Ukrainian army so that it can defend itself. That is the most important thing now,” he said.
However, Babis (ANO) expressed scepticism that the Czech Republic has enough troops to join peacekeeping efforts, if the army is to fulfil all its current tasks.
Speaking on Czech Television, Pirate Party parliamentary group leader Jakub Michalek expressed support for defence forces if, for example, it was agreed not to attack energy infrastructure. “If the majority of states in Europe agree to strengthen their defence presence in some way, for example in western Ukraine, the Czech Republic should participate in this,” he said. These defence units could protect the energy sector there, he said, so that the Ukrainian army could concentrate on fighting on the eastern line.
According to Jakub Landovsky, former Czech ambassador to NATO, the Czech army is used to being involved in missions and operations. “At the moment it will be mainly operations and missions on the eastern flank and they will be training missions. If it will be in Ukraine, it will depend on the ‘big’ agreements, if there will be any ceasefire there at all,” he told Czech Television.
The coalition of the willing, which is being led by France and the United Kingdom, includes key European Union countries, as well as others such as Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Their political leaders have also repeatedly discussed security guarantees for Ukraine after a ceasefire agreement, in the context of efforts by US President Donald Trump’s administration to quickly negotiate a ceasefire between the warring parties. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, rejects any presence of troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation countries on Ukrainian territory.
