The statements of Czech President Milos Zeman about the explosions at the ammunition depot in Vrbetica may threaten the investigation of the incident. This was announced on Sunday, April 25, by the head of the country’s Senate Milos Vystrchil.
“I am convinced that in his speech today, President Zeman conveyed information from the current case and thereby could threaten the security of the Czech Republic and radically complicate the successful investigation of this case,” the senator wrote in his Twitter-account.
Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that the Czech authorities had no reason to accuse Russia of involvement in the explosions at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica. In addition, Prague has no evidence of Moscow’s involvement in this incident.
On the same day, Zeman did not rule out the possibility that the situation around the story with the explosions at the warehouses in Vrbetica could be a game of the special services. He also stated that there was no evidence in the intelligence report of the involvement of “Russian agents” in this incident. Also, the Czech President urged to wait for the results of the investigation of the incident before drawing conclusions.
At the same time, Zeman admitted that he approved the proposal of the Cabinet of Ministers to expel 18 employees of the Russian Embassy, since they were considered employees of the special services, and he “does not like intelligence officers.” The Czech leader assured that the “mutual cannibalism” of the embassies of the two countries is over.
On April 17, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis announced 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.
Russia responded by declaring 20 employees of the Czech embassy in Moscow persona non grata a day later. The accusations in Moscow were categorically denied, and the fact that Prague does not publish the report on the explosion, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova called evidence of a lie.
As explained in the Russian Foreign Ministry, as a result of the mutual expulsions of diplomats, by May 31, seven diplomats, 25 technical staff and 19 people received on the spot will remain in the embassies of the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation.