Babiš and Pavel in conflict over NATO, government approves fuel regulation. Orbán suffers defeat

The legal and political dispute between President Petr Pavel and the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš over the representation of the Czech Republic at the July NATO summit in Turkish Ankara continues to escalate. In his letter to the prime minister, Pavel formally announced that, in accordance with Article 63 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, he intends to attend the summit at the head of the Czech delegation. At Monday's press conference following the government meeting, Babiš stated that he could not imagine what the president would do there, and that a government delegation would certainly attend the summit. According to Babiš, the composition of the delegation is not currently a topic of discussion, since three months remain until the event takes place. Lawyers point out that the president holds a legally stronger position in this regard than the government realizes. denik.cz ↗

At Monday's cabinet meeting, the government approved a draft law allowing margins and prices of diesel and petrol to be regulated by a simple cabinet decree, without parliamentary approval. Finance Minister Alena Schillerová defended this approach as the best available solution in crisis situations. The government plans to have the law discussed in the Chamber of Deputies under the legislative emergency procedure. In another area of social policy, the government definitively confirmed that the subsistence minimum will increase only from October, instead of the originally promised May. lidovky.cz ↗

The conflict between the government and Pavel is also escalating in the area of defense. The Ministry of Defense, led by Jaromír Zůna (SPD), banned the General Staff from airing a prepared interview with President Pavel. A special episode of the army podcast Kamufláž was supposed to be released on April 7, but the ministry issued a publication ban, arguing that it would not be appropriate to give Pavel visibility in an internal matter. idnes.cz ↗

In foreign policy, the Czech political scene is reorienting itself following the fall of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Hungarian parliamentary elections. The opposition party Tisza, led by Péter Magyar, won and ended Orbán's 16-year rule. President Pavel described the result as good news for Europe and a clear message from voters for change. Babiš congratulated Magyar and invited him to visit the Czech Republic, while praising his words about a possible revival of the Visegrád Four. Experts point out that Babiš is quickly distancing himself from Orbán's defeat, since he needs Hungary for his business interests. zpravy.aktualne.cz ↗

In a letter addressed to European Union leaders, Babiš proposed granting companies in the most affected sectors free allocation of emission allowances, conditional on their decarbonization plans, in an effort to preserve the competitiveness of Czech industry within the emissions trading system. seznamzpravy.cz ↗