Czech FM meets with Ambassador Zvarych, announces phone call with Sybiha
Vasyl Zvarych shared a corresponding article on the social network X, Ukrinform reports.
The Czech side emphasized that this was not a summons of the ambassador. According to Macinka, his meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador took place in a "serious atmosphere," and the interlocutors discussed, among other things, the sentiments of part of Czech society.
"Tomorrow I will continue this important discussion during a phone conversation with my Ukrainian colleague, Minister Andrii Sybiha," Macinka said.
The meeting took place shortly after the ambassador criticized statements by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura. At the time, Macinka said he did not consider it appropriate for an ambassador of a foreign state to publicly assess statements made by one of the highest constitutional officials.
As reported earlier, in his New Year address Okamura sharply criticized Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky, and also expressed a wish that the country would never become a member of the EU. These remarks drew reactions from Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, Ukraine's ambassador to the Czech Republic Vasyl Zvarych, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
In particular, Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych stated that "the offensive and hate-filled statements by Tomio Okamura toward Ukraine and Ukrainians... we regard as his personal position, formed, evidently, under the influence of Russian propaganda."
In the Czech Republic, opposition factions in the Chamber of Deputies have begun collecting signatures to remove Okamura, who is the leader of the nationalist party Freedom and Direct Democracy.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited the Czech chargé daffaires in connection with the unacceptable statements by the Speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura. As MFA spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said, this step was a mirror response to the summoning of the Ukrainian ambassador in Prague.
Photo: Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
