Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka met with Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych. The topic of discussion was the mood in Czech society and the recent public discussion regarding the New Year's speech of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura. This was reported by Ceske Noviny, writes UNN.
Details
The reason for the negotiations was the criticism from the Ukrainian ambassador against Okamura (leader of the SPD party), who in his speech spoke out against military aid to Kyiv and Ukraine's membership in the EU. In particular, Okamura used harsh statements, mentioning "Ukrainian thieves around Zelensky's junta." Macinka previously noted that he considered it inappropriate for a foreign ambassador to publicly evaluate the statements of the highest Czech officials.
The minister emphasized that the meeting was not an official "summoning of the ambassador" to the carpet, but took place in a "serious atmosphere." The next step will be a phone call between Macinka and his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha.
On Tuesday, I will continue this important discussion during a phone call with my Ukrainian colleague, Minister Andriy Sybiha.
Reaction of the Czech government and opposition
Opposition politicians in the Czech Republic called Okamura's statement shameful and urged Andrej Babiš's government to distance itself from these words. Prime Minister Babiš, in turn, stated that Okamura spoke as a party leader, not as a representative of the entire coalition, and refused to comment further on the position of his coalition partner.