Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrei Babis thanked on Thursday, April 22, the head of the Slovak Cabinet of Ministers Eduard Heger for the expulsion of three Russian diplomats from the republic.
“The fact that Slovakia, as a sign of solidarity (with the Czech Republic – Ed.) Will send three Russian diplomats, I was informed by telephone (Prime Minister. – Ed.) Eduard Heger. Many thanks! We very much appreciate this weighty gesture and position of Slovakia, ”Babiš wrote in Twitter…
Earlier on the same day, Heger announced that the country was expelling three employees of the Russian embassy, NSN reports. He explained this decision by “a reaction to recent events in the geopolitical sphere” and solidarity with the Czech Republic.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has already promised to give an answer to the actions of Bratislava, stating at the same time that they are “deeply disappointed”, according to kp.ru.
In turn, Aleksey Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, warned that Russia could mirror the expulsion of its diplomats from Slovakia.
The fact that the foreign ministers of the Visegrad group (Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) expressed solidarity with the latest actions taken by the Czech authorities in relation to Russia became known yesterday. The Foreign Ministers stressed that they condemn all actions that threaten the security of sovereign countries and their citizens.
On April 17, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis said that the country’s authorities suspect the Russian special services of involvement in the explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica in 2014. On the same day, the Czech Republic announced its decision to expel 18 Russian diplomats.
Moscow responded by declaring 20 employees of the Czech embassy in the Russian Federation persona non grata. The accusations in Russia were categorically denied, and the fact that Prague does not publish a report on the explosion, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called evidence of a lie. In the Czech Republic, this reaction from the Russian side was called stronger than expected.
On April 22, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulganek demanded that the expelled Czech diplomats be returned to Russia and promised to send about 60 more Russian diplomats otherwise.
In turn, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, pointed out to Prague that an ultimatum tone towards Russia is inadmissible. According to her, with such actions against Russia, the Czech authorities are striking by themselves.
On the same day, it became known that the Czech Republic demanded the departure of 63 employees of the Russian embassy in order to create parity between the diplomatic missions of both countries. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the number of employees of diplomatic missions was brought to parity.