Is Prague moving away from Kiev? The head of the Ministry of National Defense has no intention of going to Ukraine

The new Czech Minister of Defense, Jaromir Zuna, said in a video published on a social media platform that he would not go to Ukraine at the invitation of the local Minister of Defense. In the video, Zuna also distanced himself from his own support for Ukraine expressed last week.

The recordings, which some media and opposition politicians have described as bizarre, show the head of the parliamentary club of the radical right-wing Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) movement, Radim Fiala, questioning the Minister of Defense in the parliamentary corridors. – Minister, there is a lot of talk about the fact that you received invitations to Ukraine. How's that going? The Minister of Defense, who was appointed to this position by the SPD movement, replies: – I have decided not to accept the invitation.

In the recording, Fiala asks the minister other questions, including: support for Ukraine, the planned purchase of the F-35 and the future of the Czech ammunition initiative. The new Minister of Defense spoke about these topics on Friday, but in a different spirit than in the recordings. He said about support for Ukraine that it must continue, and called Russia an aggressor, praised the ammunition initiative and said that the obligations related to the contract for the purchase of the F-35 would be fulfilled.

The minister's statement was criticized by SPD politicians, and not only Zun, but also the movement's leadership, was criticized on social media platforms. As a result, the minister was invited to the parliamentary club on Monday. He was told that from now on he was to speak only about the army and its needs. The media points out that Zuna recorded a video with the head of the club and chairman of the SPD movement, Fiala. .

After the elections in early October, the radical right-wing, anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-NATO party SPD joined the government coalition formed by the victorious, populist ANO movement of Andrej Babisz. The party's leader, Tomio Okamura, became head of the Chamber of Deputies, and the SPD was recommended by three non-party experts for the government.

From Prague Piotr Górecki (PAP)

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