PRAGUE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2021) Czech President Milos Zeman has received a lot of positive feedback after his televised address about the 2014 explosions in weapons depots in Vrbetice, the president's spokesperson Jiri Ovcacek, has said.
The Czech president on Sunday spoke at length about the incident and the ensuing diplomatic row between Prague and Moscow. In his address, Zeman mentioned that the country's counter-intelligence had not mentioned anything in its reports about possible involvement of Russian agents in the 2014 explosions. The president also lamented what he called "mutual cannibalism," meaning tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats by the Czech Republic and Russia.
"We have received a great number of responses. We are grateful for these words of support for the president, which are coming from all corners of the country," Ovcacek wrote for the newspaper Mlada fronta DNES.
The spokesperson also commented on statements by foreign politicians about the Vrbetice incident.
"The position of our EU and NATO allies regarding the incident plays an important role ... Statements by [politicians from] Russia that are aimed against the Czech Republic are unacceptable," Ovcacek added.
On April 17, Prague announced that 18 Russian diplomats would be expelled from the country on suspicion of being officers of Russia's special services.
According to Prime Minister Andrej Babis, the reason for such a move is the suspicion that Russian military intelligence officers were involved in the 2014 explosion in Vrbetice, which killed two Czech nationals.
Moscow retaliated by expelling 20 Czech diplomats, prompting Prague to order more diplomats out of the country in response.
