Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis summoned the head of the Ministry of Justice, Maria Benešova, in connection with her statement about the existence of two versions of the explosions at a warehouse in Vrbetica in 2014. This was announced on May 2 by First Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamacek.
According to Babish, there is only one version in the case – allegedly about the connection of the incident with “agents of the Russian special services”.
“The police are working with the Russian version. Officers of the Russian GRU, specifically unit 29155, are involved in the explosions. There are no other versions, ”he said on Czech television.
According to Gamacek, Benesova “received general information” about the incident in Vrbetica. “Her speech did not please me, it benefited someone other than the Czech Republic,” Hamacek said, adding that the prime minister summoned Benešova to him because of her statements.
Hamacek also said that the Czech authorities know what “the Russians did” and “how they did it.” “They (the Russian side. – Ed.) Know that they did it, and they know that we know that they did it. The only thing they don’t know is what we have on them, ”Hamacek said.
Earlier, on April 29, Benesova stated that there are several, namely more than two, versions of the incident with the explosions in Vrbetica in 2014.
According to Benesova, when she was present at the cabinet meeting that discussed the incident, she had the opinion that the country’s president, Milos Zeman, was of the same opinion. At the same time, she clarified that she had seen only the counterintelligence message, no one has access to the “live” materials of the investigation.
Babis announced the suspicion of the Russian special services in the explosions in Vrbetica on April 17, in connection with which the Czech Republic expelled 18 Russian diplomats from the country.
In response, Moscow declared 20 employees of the Czech embassy in Russia persona non grata.
On April 25, Zeman made his first televised statement on the incident. In particular, he stated that the investigation was continuing and that there were two versions in the case, in particular the unprofessional handling of the contents of the warehouses by his employees and the organization of explosions by representatives of foreign special services.
At the same time, the President of the Czech Republic said that the intelligence report did not contain evidence of the involvement of “Russian agents” in the explosion. He also drew attention to the fact that the Czech counterintelligence, even in the closed part of the reports, had not reported anything about some “Russian agents” for six years.
Solidarity with the Czech Republic, in turn, was also declared by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia, announcing the expulsion of employees of the Russian embassies. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared seven diplomats of these countries persona non grata.