[ad_1]
By accusing Moscow of a deadly explosion and expelling 18 embassy employees, Prague leaders have confirmed growing Western concern over Putin’s actions, with US sanctions against Russia for piracy and election interference, Russian troops mobilizing en masse. near the Ukrainian border and the jailed dissident Alex deteriorating in health.
The Czech accusations show a deviation from the country’s fragmented foreign policy, which Russia has used to increase its influence among NATO members and the European Union. Although Czech governments have so far loyally supported their allies, President Milos Zeman has been an active advocate of closer European ties with Moscow and Beijing since he came to power in 2013.
So far, Zeman has used his largely ceremonial role to criticize efforts by the United States and the EU to punish Putin for Russia’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict and the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.
But demonstrating a rare act of unity, this time Zeman sided with the government and spoke out against Putin.
“The president has all the information at hand,” the president’s spokesman Jiri Ovčaček wrote on Twitter. “The highest-ranking constitutional representatives will act in a coordinated manner.”
Prime Minister Andrei Babish said the government had secured “full” support from the president.
Diplomats sent
The Czechs sent 18 diplomats from the country, an unprecedented number, after the actions of the Moscow intelligence service GRU are linked to the 2014. explosion at a munitions depot in the southeast of the country in October.
The explosion, which killed two workers and evacuated hundreds of people from surrounding villages, was equated by the government in 2018 as an attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripalis.
Russia rejected the accusations and recovered them by expelling twenty Czech diplomats from Moscow, a common reaction in the era of Putin’s expansive foreign policy. The Czech decision was based on “fictitious pretexts,” the Moscow Foreign Ministry said, accusing Prague of succumbing to pressure from Washington.
“In a rush to persuade the United States after the recent announcement of US sanctions against Russia, the Czech government has even outdone its hosts abroad,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Czech Republic has long been a favorite partner of Russia, although the attitude toward Moscow among the Czechs is fundamentally negative: They blame the Soviet Union for keeping them separate from the prosperity of the West during four decades of communism.
Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek last week proposed a summit between Biden and Putin in Prague to ease tensions between the two superpowers, but the chances of that happening now are slim.
“We must eliminate the growing influence of Russia in the Czech political, cultural and economic sphere,” Milos Vystrčil, president of the Czech Senate, said on Sunday. “We heard from the Prime Minister yesterday that these warnings were not empty.”
The biggest change awaited M. Zeman himself. For nearly a decade, it has been pushing for closer relations with Russia, recently calling for more investment and approving Russian Covid-19 vaccines that have not been approved by EU regulators.
Vaccines, reactors
The president confirmed the removal of health minister Jan Blatny this month, accusing him of allowing people to die from Covid-19 rather than using Russian and Chinese vaccines.
The alleged interference can also have a significant business impact. Although Zeman was an active advocate for Russian companies involved in the $ 7 billion expansion of the Dukovan nuclear power plant, politicians in both Czech rush were quick to assert that there is now almost no doubt that Russia will be removed from bid.
Shortly after Babish accused Russia of participating in Saturday’s attack, Czech police said they were looking for two men in the country in 2014 during a deadly explosion and used Russian passports with names that UK police associate. with GRU agents who poisoned Skripalis four years later.
“This is a severe blow to Czech-Russian relations,” former Czech diplomat Tom Pojar said by phone. “Russia will now try to defend itself.”
[ad_2]
