The key facts

  • On November 5 in Trenčín, Petr Pavel said he «certainly has no such ambitions» to become Europe's negotiator
  • His candidacy was mentioned by The Telegraph and Berliner Zeitung among possible ones, but was never officially discussed
  • Pavel is ready to share his experience of working in NATO and the EU, but the choice of a representative remains with the European states

Pavel declines the role of a mediator

Czech President Petr Pavel said he does not aspire to become Europe's single representative in negotiations on settling the conflict in Ukraine. The statement was made on November 5 after a meeting of the leaders of the Visegrad Four in Trenčín, Slovakia, when journalists asked whether he would accept such a role. «I certainly have no such ambitions. Of course, I would be glad to share my experience of working both in NATO and in the European Union. But it is certainly up to the European states to decide whom they consider their representative,» Pavel replied. His words are cited by the Czech outlet Ceske Noviny, which Gazeta.Ru also references; the Czech agency ČTK is quoted by Life.ru.

Where the question about his candidacy came from

The reason for the question was a publication by The Telegraph, which, citing diplomatic sources, named Pavel among five politicians being considered by European leaders as possible negotiators with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pavel himself clarified that his candidacy had not been officially discussed, and called the mention of his name in the British press a journalistic assumption that probably arose from his earlier statements about Europe's participation in the peace process. According to him, the European states have not yet developed a common approach to the format of such representation: before discussing specific candidates, it is necessary to determine exactly how Europe will participate in the negotiations.

Context: other candidates and Pavel's earlier statements

The question of a single European negotiator is being discussed against the backdrop of concerns that EU countries may be left out of decisions on the Ukrainian conflict; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed bringing this topic up for discussion among European leaders. Earlier, Life.ru reported, citing Berliner Zeitung, that several candidates are being considered in Europe: Finnish President Alexander Stubb is named as the most promising thanks to his contacts with Donald Trump; among the other figures are Pavel himself, Meloni, and the heads of government of Denmark and Norway. Notably, Pavel's refusal contrasts with his earlier public position on Russia: previously he called on NATO to shoot down Russian aircraft and to «bare its teeth» with «resolute and asymmetric» actions in response to alleged provocations, and also told Czech schoolchildren about the case of a Russian Su-24 being shot down by Turkey. At the same time, as Life.ru notes, Pavel chaired the NATO Military Committee from June 2015 to June 2018 — experience that, by his own words, he is ready to use to support the diplomatic process, without claiming the role of an official negotiator.