Czech President Petr Pavel assessed today that the international initiative Ammunition for Ukraine, launched by the Czech Republic in 2024, was successful, as around 4,4 million pieces of artillery ammunition have been delivered so far, which is around 50 percent of all ammunition sent to Ukraine by the Allies.
"It can be said that the initiative was of vital importance for Ukraine, and it still is. In the last year alone, 2,5 million pieces have been purchased. Without this ammunition, the Ukrainian armed forces would not be able to defend themselves. Because if you don't have secure and predictable ammunition supplies, you can't even plan for effective defense," Pavel said today on the Czech podcast Odkryto.
Regarding criticism, primarily from the current ruling coalition of populists led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, radical nationalists led by Parliament Speaker Tomi Okamura, and Eurosceptic conservatives led by Foreign Minister Petar Macinka, that corruption is allegedly rampant within the initiative, that some kind of rotten weapons are being sold, and that only Czech arms dealers and brokers are making money, Pavel said that there was a lot of criticism, but none of it presented any confirmation or evidence that it was founded.
"As a state, we approached this from the beginning with maximum caution and transparency, we invited the largest donors to send their controllers to monitor how Czech experts use their money," said Pavel.
The Czech president emphasized that there was not even a hint of criticism from any donor, and billions of euros were flowing in, that the initiative was non-transparent or corrupt.
"There were, of course, attempts at corruption. Wherever there is big money, there will certainly be such attempts, but I am convinced that there were no serious machinations in Ammunition for Ukraine. If there is criticism that a company took a higher margin, I am in favor of checking it. But that should not compromise the entire initiative," said Pavel.
On election night, when his ANO party was declared victorious in the October 3-4 elections, the new Prime Minister Andrej Babiš began to backtrack on his campaign promises to end the Ammunition for Ukraine initiative, through which the Czech Republic connects artillery ammunition manufacturers in third countries, including Serbia, with Western donors such as Germany, Canada, Denmark, a total of over 15 countries in the initiative that purchase and donate ammunition to Ukraine.
In the end, the new government of Prime Minister Babiš continued the initiative, announcing that it would remain as before, only that it would no longer receive funds from the Czech budget, which is negligible because the Czech Republic figured as an intermediary, not a donor, and Czech companies made enormous profits from the deliveries, primarily CSG of Michal Strnad, currently the richest Czech, which also operates in Serbia.
Pavel warned that those who believed that peace in Ukraine could be achieved quickly were naive, although he welcomed the convergence of positions between Ukraine, the EU and the US on the conditions for peace, but stressed that this was less important, and it was crucial to bring positions closer together with Russia.
"It is important to agree on the terms of a peace agreement with the other side in the war, that is, with Russia. So far, Russia has not shown much willingness to negotiate and compromise. It continues to insist on its demands, limiting Ukraine's security future, but above all on territory," Pavel said.
According to the Czech president, it is therefore now important to continue to pressure Russia both financially and economically and to continue to assist Ukraine.
"Let's not let Ukraine be in a position that is less favorable for the start of negotiations. History teaches us that negotiations can be successful when both sides are in a relatively favorable position. If they are not, the side that is in a more favorable position will always be more willing to continue fighting," Pavel said.
Bonus video:
