Pavel warns against stopping Czech ammunition supplies to Ukraine

As reported by Reuters, he made the statement following the election victory of the ANO party, which has announced plans to end the program, Ukrinform reports.

“If we were to reduce or even end this support, we would primarily harm ourselves, but ending this support would also have a negative impact on Ukraine, where many more would lose their lives,” the Czech President said.

Pavel noted that ANO leader Andrej Babiš would have access to more detailed information about the initiative to understand how it operates.

“I assume that both with Andrej Babis, and with the representatives of the other parties, we will bear in mind, above all, the interest of the Czech Republic, our allies and partners such as Ukraine,” Pavel emphasized.

Before the elections, Babiš stated that, if victorious, he would end the ammunition procurement initiative, calling it too expensive and non-transparent. He argued that such efforts should be managed by the European Union and NATO instead.

In 2024, under the “Czech Initiative”, 1.5 million ammunition rounds were supplied to Ukraine, including 500,000 shells of 155mm caliber. The Czech government had expected ammunition deliveries to Ukraine to increase further this year.

The populist opposition ANO party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, which won 80 of 200 seats in the lower house of parliament, is currently holding talks with other political forces to try to form a majority.

As Ukrinform reported, in the Czech parliamentary elections the populist party Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO), led by former Prime Minister and billionaire Andrej Babiš, won 34.51% of the vote.

Photo: Radek Veber, MAFRA