[ad_1]
The arrests took place in different parts of the country. The Czech police have already rejected the version that the detainees could be linked to the 2014 devastating explosion at a munitions depot in Vrbetice, reports english.radio.cz.
According to the magazine Respekt and the news portal Aktuálně.cz, all the suspects are Czechs and belong to paramilitary organizations that organized trips for Czech citizens to Ukraine to fight on behalf of the separatists.
Prague issues an ultimatum to Moscow to allow the return of expelled Czech diplomats
The Czech government issued an ultimatum to Moscow on Wednesday, warning that it could send more Russian diplomats out of the country unless Czech diplomats sent from Russia can return to work before noon on Thursday.
18 Russian diplomats, identified by Czech intelligence as spies, left their posts on Monday after blaming the Russian secret services in Prague for the 2014 bombing in the Czech Republic, which claimed victims. At that time, Russia sent 20 Czech diplomats to Moscow.
“The Russian Federation has until 12 noon tomorrow (local time, 1 pm Lithuanian time) to allow all sent diplomats to return to the Czech embassy in Moscow,” Jakub Kulhanek, the new chief, told reporters. of the country’s diplomacy.
“If they cannot return, I will reduce the number of staff at the Russian embassy in Prague to match the current situation at the Czech embassy in Moscow,” he added.
After meeting with the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry, Alexander Zmeyevsky, Kulhanek said that Moscow’s response was “disproportionate and, in fact, paralyzed the embassy.”
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Moscow currently employs five diplomats and 19 technicians, far fewer than the Embassy of Russia in Prague.
“The expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats did not endanger the functioning of the Russian embassy,” said Kulhanek, who was appointed minister only on Wednesday.
Jan Hamaček, Interior Minister at the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday that he was ready to dispatch all Russian diplomats from Prague.
“I’m ready for anything. He even builds relationships from scratch. This means that we will send them all (diplomats) home,” said J. Hamaček on the social network Facebook.
“I was expecting a slightly different reaction from Russia, but hey. We are forced to give an answer in a series of stages. Today it was Rosatom, which they (Russia) will not like. And we need to consult about other options,” he added .
Hamaček also said his country was asking European Union and NATO partners to send Russian diplomats out of solidarity.
The Czech government said, based on an intelligence report, that the Russian military intelligence agency GRU organized two bombings in 2014, one of which killed two people and caused significant property damage.
Czech police investigating these attacks are searching for two men suspected of the 2018 poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England.
Prague also decided on Monday to exclude Russian nuclear giant Rosatom from bidding for the construction of a new unit at a Czech nuclear power plant.
Mr. Hamaček added that the Czech government would no longer consider obtaining a Russian COVID-19 “Sputnik V” vaccine.
Requirement to reduce the territory of the embassy
The Russian embassy must abandon part of the Stromovskaya park (about 5,000 square meters) it occupies and limit its territory to the 1968 borders. The Council of the Czech Capital made such a request to the country’s authorities.
“The 53-year occupation of part of Stromovka park by the Russian Federation must finally come to an end,” the old man said on his Twitter account.
In addition, the Czech Republic will exclude the Russian state corporation Rosatom from the tender for the development contractor of the Dukovan nuclear power plant in the event of an international political scandal.
According to Bloomberg, the decision was announced by Czech Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Commerce Karel Havlichek.
It is strictly forbidden to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source .
[ad_2]
