Czech President: Peace Cannot Be Achieved by Merely Pretending to Want It

Prague/New York, 21 September (TASR-correspondent) - Peace can only be achieved through readiness to respond to violence, Czech President Petr Pavel said in response to statements by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), who said that Pavel, as a former general, would like to fight, while he himself wants peace, TASR learnt from its special correspondent in Prague on Sunday. According to Pavel, who is currently in New York to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, a NATO country that does nothing for its own defence cannot expect others to come to its aid. "I've heard similar arguments before, saying that a general is the one who drags a country into war, while everyone else wants peace. Peace will not be achieved by those who pretend to want it and aren't willing to do anything for it. Unfortunately, peace can only be achieved by being prepared to respond to violence," said Pavel, adding that peace must be defended through strength. "First and foremost, by showing that I have that strength and that I'm ready to use it - that means the principle of deterrence, or discouraging anyone who might want to attack us. And in the worst-case scenario, the ability to actually defend ourselves, from the very first moment," said Pavel. He recalled that NATO is built on collective defence, but in addition to the often-cited Article 5, according to which an armed attack against one NATO member country is considered to be an attack against all members, there is also Article 3, which states that every country must first and foremost ensure that it's sufficiently capable of defending itself. If it fails to do so, it cannot expect others to come to its aid in the event of an attack, said Pavel. "It's important that we do not fall prey to the illusion that NATO is something imaginary that will protect us without our own contribution... I consider any statements questioning Article 5 or our membership of NATO to be dangerous in the current security context, and I'll be very glad if we do not think this way in the Czech Republic," said Pavel. Asked whether he would discuss Fico's remarks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, whom he's due to meet in New York on Monday, Pavel said that they might not need to address the issue. "As I understand it, President Pellegrini shares my view on honouring our commitments. If he himself wants to talk about it, we can. But this evening should be about Czech-Slovak mutuality, not about addressing problems," added Pavel. Last week on Thursday (17 September), Fico said that he did not want Slovakia to become part of any military conflict "because of some Article 5". Pavel described Fico's remarks as a serious statement that should not be followed as an example. Fico responded by claiming that Pavel, as a former NATO general, would like to fight, while he preferred peace. jrg