The Secretary General J. Stoltenberg praised Czechia as a valuable Ally and thanked President Pavel for the continuous support to Ukraine facing a brutal Russian aggression: “Czechia has delivered to Ukraine important military equipment, including tanks, helicopters, and air defence missiles, and serves as host nation for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees”. Both representatives have also addressed challenges emanating from China. J. Stoltenberg stated:” I welcomed the new Czech strategy for the Indo – Pacific region. The coercive China policy in the Euro-Atlantic space is source of concern for us, as well as for our partners in the Indo – Pacific region. China challenges our interests, security and values. China is also coming closer to Russia – refuses to condemn its unlawful war against Ukraine and repeats the Russian propaganda about the West. It is therefore important to continue our cooperation as Allies and with like-minded countries all over the world, in order to defend our values and the rules based order”. President Pavel mentioned, “A strong NATO is a guaranty of our security. We are ready to fulfil our commitment of a 2% GDP investments in defence in 2024”. If needed, we are ready to invest even more, as long as the planned expenditures will be allocated to concrete projects”.

The Secretary Genera also stated that he is looking forward to work together with President Pavel and the Czech Government in preparing the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July this year.

President Pavel previously served as Chairman of the Military Committee of the Alliance from 2015 to 2018.