Does Czech Republic President Petr Pavel want to give up the nation's veto right and sovereignty in favor of bigger countries like Germany or France? No, that's not true: He said in a speech in Brussels that the European Union needs to improve its decision making to be able to speed up the procedure.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by @vercablaza on October 27, 2023, under the title (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff): "Let's not let the veto power be taken away." It opened (as translated):
Our President Petr Pavel would let the EU decide about us without us. We can't let that happen, please, let's not let the veto power be taken away
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Oct 31 10:23:47 2023 UTC)
The president himself denied the claims that he wants to satisfy big countries or give up the sovereignty of the Czech Republic. There is an ongoing debate about changing the decision-making procedure within the EU, linked to plans to add new member states. More than 80 percent of voting in the EU is done with a qualified majority of votes, but in some areas, such as sending financial aid to Ukraine, countries can use veto rights.
Pavel spoke about the EU, its stability and possible enlargement to the Western Balkans and Ukraine on October 3, 2023, as a keynote speaker at the opening ceremony of the new academic year of the University College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. He said: "The question of enlargement is, of course, linked to the question of the EU's effectiveness - an issue that is not very popular in the smaller and medium-sized member states. However, we must be prepared to consider various proposals in the domestic debate on how to adjust the EU's decision-making process, including a move to qualified majority voting in certain areas." This remark was misinterpreted by some politicians and media, which led to the false claim that Pavel wants to give up veto rights and Czech sovereignty.
