Czech President Milos Zeman said on Sunday, April 25, that he does not rule out the possibility that the current situation around the story with the explosions in the warehouses in Vrbetica is a game of the special services.
According to Zeman, if the involvement of “Russian agents” in the explosions is proven, then the Russian Federation will have to “pay for it.” For example, Prague can provide Rosatom in a tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Dukovany
“If, on the contrary, this suspicion (about the participation of Russian special services in the incident in Vrbetica – Ed.) Is refuted, then we are talking about an intelligence game that could have serious consequences for the political life of the Czech Republic,” he said in an emergency appeal, which broadcast channel CNN Prima News.
In addition, the President of the Czech Republic said that the intelligence report did not provide evidence of the involvement of “Russian agents” in the 2014 explosion. He also urged to wait for the results of the investigation of the incident before drawing conclusions.
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, in response to these actions, a day later announced 20 employees of the Czech embassy in Moscow 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.
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.