Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš drew international attention after telling reporters he bought a globe for 15,000 crowns to locate Greenland during a discussion on global security.

Speaking at a press conference, Babiš addressed renewed debate over Greenland following U.S. statements about the Danish autonomous territory.

He said the globe was large enough for him to see Greenland clearly and later shared a video referencing the purchase on social media.

The comment spread quickly online and was reported by foreign outlets. German tabloid Bild highlighted the remark, framing it as a lapse during a serious geopolitical discussion.

Russian state daily Izvestia also covered the story, writing that the Czech prime minister had bought a globe in order to search for Greenland. In Latvia, news portal BB ran a similar report.

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A post shared by Andrej Babiš (@andrejbabis)

The remarks followed comments Babiš made earlier at a conference on foreign affairs. He said the Czech Republic could not claim to support Greenland and added that perhaps someone might want to buy it. He said Prague preferred any outcome to be resolved within existing alliances.

Babiš then referred to strategic missile trajectories. He said a missile launched from Russia toward the United States would pass over Greenland after roughly eleven minutes, arguing that this made U.S. concerns about Russia and China understandable.

Public statements, he said, were ineffective without concrete agreements.

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