NATO Council expresses solidarity with the Czech Republic in connection with the incident in Vrbetica

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The NATO Council expressed full solidarity with the Czech Republic in connection with the 2014 incident in Vrbetica at the ammunition depot, but did not mention the possible collective expulsion of Russian diplomats.

“The Allies are deeply concerned about the destabilizing actions that Russia continues to carry out in the Euro-Atlantic region, including on the territory of the alliance, and are in full solidarity with the Czech Republic,” said a statement following an emergency meeting of the NATO Council on April 22.

In addition, NATO member states expressed concern about the “destabilizing actions of the Russian Federation in the Euro-Atlantic zone.”

On April 22, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulganek announced that the Czech Republic could demand an apology or financial compensation from Russia for the alleged destruction caused by the explosions in Vrbetica. Kulganek noted that when one state harms another, then there may be different options for compensation for losses: an apology, restoration to its original state or compensation for damage.

A day earlier, Aleksey Chepa, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee, said in a conversation with Izvestia that the calls of Czech deputies to recover compensation from Russia for the damage caused by the explosions at the ammunition depot in 2014 is a continuation of the political bacchanalia. The deputy pointed out that there is no evidence of Russia’s involvement in the explosions seven years ago.

On April 21, it became known that the deputies of the Czech parliament called on the government to limit the number of employees of the Russian embassy in Prague and to recover compensation from Moscow for the damage caused by the explosion.

The incident in Vrbetica took place in 2014. Prague claims that evidence of the alleged involvement of the Russian special services in the explosion is clear. At the same time, the Czech Republic cannot declassify data about the incident.

Maria Zakharova, an official to the Russian Foreign Ministry, called the fact that Prague does not publish a report on the explosion, “evidence of lies and fakes.”

Relations between Russia and the Czech Republic became tense after the Prime Minister of the country Andrei Babish announced on April 17 that the Russian special services were suspected of being involved in the explosion. On the same day, the Czech Republic decided to expel 18 Russian diplomats.

Moscow, in response, declared 20 employees of the Czech embassy in the Russian Federation persona non grata. In the Czech Republic, the reaction of the Russian side was called stronger than expected.