after it failed to follow instructions to head to sicily. the craft was helping three migrant boats. now on bbc news: it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, from prague, i m stephen sackur. vladimir putin hoped that europe s determination to stand with ukraine after russia s invasion would not last. he counted on a winter energy crisis and economic disruption to weaken european resolve. has that happened 7 well, my guest today is the newly elected president of the czech republic, petr pavel. now, he is a former nato general and a staunch ally of ukraine. so, is europe still ready and willing to do whatever it takes to back kyiv? president petr pavel, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. i must start, mr president, by congratulating you on your recent inauguration. but i must admit, it doesn t really make sense that you are sitting here with me as president of the czech republic because, just a few short years ago, you said, i am a soldier at heart. i d
with ukraine after russia s invasion would not last. he counted on a winter energy crisis and economic disruption to weaken european resolve. has that happened 7 well, my guest today is the newly elected president of the czech republic, petr pavel. now, he is a former nato general and a staunch ally of ukraine. so, is europe still ready and willing to do whatever it takes to back kyiv? president petr pavel, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. i must start, mr president, by congratulating you on your recent inauguration. but i must admit, it doesn t really make sense that you are sitting here with me as president of the czech republic because, just a few short years ago, you said, i am a soldier at heart. i do not intend to transform into the role of a politician. so, what happened? every soldier is used to serve his country and wherever one sees that his country is in danger, it s like a call a call of duty. so, i saw my own country being threatened by populism and
this is bbc news. the headlines: nato condemns russia for its dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric a day after president putin said that moscow would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in belarus. nato says that it remains vigilant but hasn t seen changes in russia s nuclear posture would make them a leader to adjust its own. president biden has ordered the federal aid be sent to mississippi as emergency services work to help hundreds of people who have been left homeless by a tornado. at least 20 25 people died in mississippi and one was killed in alabama. people are voting to decide whether berlin should be carbon neutral by 2030. critics say that the timeframe is unrealistic. donald trump has launched his campaign to return to the white house with a rally for supporters in the state of texas. he used the platform to attack those who are seeking to put him behind bars. you are watching bbc news. now it is time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, from prague, i m stephen sac
officials say they d have an unfair advantage due to increased strength and muscle mass. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, from prague, i m stephen sackur. vladimir putin hoped that europe s determination to stand with ukraine after russia s invasion would not last. he counted on a winter energy crisis and economic disruption to weaken european resolve. has that happened 7 well, my guest today is the newly elected president of the czech republic, petr pavel. now, he is a former nato general and a staunch ally of ukraine. so, is europe still ready and willing to do whatever it takes to back kyiv? president petr pavel, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. i must start, mr president, by congratulating you on your recent inauguration. but i must admit, it doesn t really make sense that you are sitting here with me as president of the czech republic, because just a few short years ago, you said, i am a soldier at heart. i do not intend
a call of duty. so, i saw my own country being threatened by populism, and there was a quite serious risk that our future president will be very similar to what is viktor orban for hungary, and i simply didn t want something like that to happen to my country. the ukraine war was also a big factor in the election campaign. mr babis accused you of being and i use his own word a w a rm onger he said that your support for ukraine, your belief that ukraine should get more weapons, more financial support from the european union, was actually prolonging the war. a number of czech people still appear to believe he was right. not just czech people. you will find a lot of people thinking the same way in other countries of the region,