The President of the Czech Republic did not make such statements. During the 79th UN General Assembly, the Czech leader spoke more broadly about the existence of war fatigue but emphasized the importance of continuing to support Ukraine and not allowing Russia to win this war.
A quote allegedly attributed to Czech President Petr Pavel, claiming that Czechs are tired of supporting Ukraine, has been circulating on social media.
«But once we are getting used to it [war in Ukraine], we are also getting tired of it. And there is a term, ‘war fatigue,’ that not only directly involves the war-fighting parties but also everyone supporting or not supporting,» Pavel allegedly said.
Russian propaganda is actively promoting the narrative of Western countries being tired of the war in Ukraine to reduce international support and attention for Ukraine. However, the quote shared by the propaganda is a generalization that the Czech president did not make. It is yet another manipulation and misrepresentation of his words.
In late September 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel gave an interview during the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, where he commented on the Russia-Ukraine war. The host asked the president whether he saw the same level of unity in NATO after two years of full-scale war and what the current threat landscape looked like. Petr Pavel responded:
«That would be quite surprising if there was still the same level of unity as it was at the beginning. The beginning was shocking, as any such conflict. But once we are getting used to it, we are also getting tired of it. And there is a term, ‘war fatigue,’ that not only involves directly the war-fighting parties but also everyone supporting or not supporting. And even here during the debates, I had an impression that some representatives of the countries are a little bit tired by always hearing that we need to support Ukraine and we need to condemn Russian aggression. Whenever I speak to the nations that are more distant to the conflict, I am trying to explain that it’s not the regional conflict that we are talking about because it involves us almost directly. It’s the principles that are that important. We are here in a situation when a permanent member of the UN Security Council is leading an aggression against another sovereign country. And that shakes the very foundations of this institution, of the system in which we live and in which we want to live, where the rules are respected. And that’s why it’s so important not to let Russia win in this conflict.»
So, Pavel did not make any statements claiming that Czechs are tired of supporting Ukraine; this quote was simply fabricated by the Kremlin.
If we look at public opinion polling in the Czech Republic (Center for Public Opinion Research), the February 2024 data shows a shift in public interest: «The percentage of people who are ‘definitely interested’ in the situation is decreasing, while the share of those who are ‘somewhat interested’ is increasing.»
«Approximately seven out of ten citizens consider the situation in Ukraine a threat to European security (71%) and world peace (70%), while less than two-thirds see it as a threat to Czech security (64%). More than two-fifths of citizens (43%) agree with the government’s actions in supporting Ukraine, while 54% disagree. Two-fifths (40%) of Czech citizens believe that the government adequately supports Ukraine, a small portion said it supports too little (3%), while more than half (54%) believe the government is too supportive. A significant majority of citizens agree with international diplomatic pressure on Russia (73%), just over half approve of financial aid to Ukraine (53%), support full political and economic isolation of Russia (52%), and back supplying military equipment to Ukraine (51%). On the other hand, only about one-seventh (14%) of the Czech population supports sending soldiers into battle,» the report states.
Previously, StopFake debunked the fake claim that Ukrainians had allegedly stopped donating to the army, as well as a fake about a supposed poster in Berlin against supporting Ukraine, with the caption «We are tired of feeding this pig.»
