Czech President Peter Pavel shared the NATO -Hague summary details, talking about difficult but important discussions with US President Donald Trump and other leaders. According to Paul, Trump is a leader who needs to "provoke" to take decisive action, while Europe should be "pushed" to more responsibility in security issues.
During the summit, Pavel sat at one table with the King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Trump. The President of the Czech Republic said that he had discussed not only personal ties with the American leader through the first wife of Trump, Ivan, but also global challenges - a customs war with China and a war in Ukraine.
"We unanimously convinced Trump that it was time to significantly increase the economic pressure on Russia. Not for the purpose of destroying the economy of Russia, but to force it to act and sit at the negotiation table, ”Pavel said on CNN Prima News. The President recalled that the increase in US duties on Chinese goods has led to a change in Beijing's position for a month, and expressed confidence that sanctions against Russia would give a noticeable effect in a week or two. Paul also said that Trump asked why Europe could not invest 5% of its GDP in the defense budget. "We answered that even if we find political will, we have neither production capacity nor infrastructure for such a scale of defense purchases," the President explained.
According to him, previous US presidents have repeatedly urged Europe to increase defensive costs, but these calls were perceived without proper seriousness. In this context, the approach of Trump - to refuse to protect those who are not ready to invest in defense - became "Schrapnell", who "woke up" Europeans. Pavel stressed that Russia remains a serious threat: “Putin has repeatedly stated that wherever the Russian soldier has stepped down is a Russian land. He speaks of "protection of his citizens" outside Russia, which justifies aggression, in particular in the Baltic States with a large Russian -speaking population. "
The President of the Czech Republic has called for a return to such a world where the right of force is above the international law and sovereignty of states.
