Czech Republic’s purchase of shells for the AFU is at risk — FT

The Czech Republic’s purchase of shells for Ukraine has been threatened by the opposition party headed by Andrej Babiš. The ANO Party has promised to stop this initiative if it returns to power. 

The Financial Times reported it.

Czech Republic’s purchase of shells for Ukraine

It is noted that the President of Czech Republic Petr Pavel reported last year that his government was coordinating the purchase of artillery shells for Ukraine on international markets. 

At the same time, Karel Havlíček, the Deputy Chairman of the ANO Party, voiced his doubts about the quality and price of the shells. According to him, "the quality is not perfect and it is just extremely expensive".  

According to the newspaper, despite the statements about the poor quality of the shells, Kyiv was generally satisfied with the supply. In January, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine had received up to 80% of the shells promised in 2024. 

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Eduard Hulíčius, said that last year Kyiv received 520,000 rounds of 155 mm ammunition under this initiative, and that another 300,000 rounds are planned for 2025. 

At the same time, the liberal government of the Czech Republic warned that Andrej Babiš could change course on Ukraine and strengthen relations with pro-Kremlin leaders such as Viktor Orban in Hungary, Robert Fico in Slovakia, and the likely future Austrian Chancellor Herbert Kikl.

What the Czech Initiative is

The Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine was officially launched on February 20, 2024. At the Munich Security Conference, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, explained that Ukraine urgently needed artillery and other ammunition and that the Czech Republic knew where to get it. 

He said that he had found half a million pieces of 155mm ammunition and 300,000 pieces of 122mm ammunition. A number of European countries have joined his initiative. 

As a reminder, in October 2024, Ukraine received a third of the ammunition as part of the Czech initiative. The rest was to be delivered by the end of the year.

However, in September, it became known that Poland had not allocated money for the purchase of shells for Ukraine under the Czech initiative.