Czech PM: We’ll Help Ukraine Defend Against Russian Drones
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has reaffirmed his country’s steadfast support for Ukraine, specifically emphasizing cooperation to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and its ability to counter Russian drone attacks, The Gaze reports, citing Ukrinform.
“We agree with the Chancellor that we must continue supporting Ukraine and ensure it receives sufficient weapons deliveries so it can keep resisting,” Fiala said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on July 22.
He thanked Germany for its “significant involvement in the Czech ammunition initiative” and expressed Prague’s readiness to expand cooperation with Berlin.
“We also want to work together with Germany to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense — specifically to counter drones, which the Russians use to terrorize civilians,” he added.
Fiala underlined Czechia’s energy resilience, noting that the country had successfully ended its dependence on Russian energy supplies. He also discussed regional cooperation within the Visegrád Group (Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary), candidly acknowledging the challenges.
“This cooperation is not simple, mainly because of differing approaches to the key issue of our time — security,” the Czech leader said. He noted the absence of recent prime ministerial-level meetings within the group, calling it a “reasonable” decision under the circumstances.
“Because we are divided on several key international security and political questions… how we support Ukraine, how we pressure Russia, and how we interpret Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” Fiala explained, referring to differing positions between Czechia and Poland on one side, and Slovakia and Hungary on the other.
He stressed that security is currently the most important issue, and when there are disagreements in this area, “it becomes a real obstacle to normal cooperation.”
Nevertheless, Fiala affirmed that Czechia remains open to pragmatic cooperation in other formats.
“For me, what matters is the ability to build coalitions around specific topics that have a chance of success,” he said, adding that if support for Ukraine works well with countries like the Netherlands and Denmark, “then Prague will continue to do that.”
At the same time, Fiala confirmed that Czechia will not join the initiative to purchase U.S.-made Patriot missile systems.
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