Ukrainian ambassador 'not inclined to dramatize' results of elections in Czech Republic

Ukrainian ambassador 'not inclined to dramatize' results of elections in Czech Republic

Ukrinform
Ukrainian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Yevhen Perebyinis has said he expects that the future Czech government will continue the course in support of mutually beneficial relations with Kyiv and will maintain common European policy on the Ukrainian issue.

The diplomat said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I hope that this [future] government will continue to pursue pragmatic and mutually beneficial relations with Ukraine," Perebyinis said.

Despite various estimates of the results of the Czech elections, he is "not inclined to dramatize them." The Ukrainian side is well aware of the ANO party (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), which triumphed in the October 20-21 elections and without which a government cannot be formed, since it was also represented in the government that completes its cadence. Despite the fact that this political party has views different from "traditional parties" regarding the functioning of the EU (in particular, it opposes the influx of migrants and the introduction of the euro), in principle, it is a pro-European party, which was confirmed by its leader Andrej Babis. Perebyinis also recalled a statement made by Babis a few days before the election that he did not plan to cooperate in forming a government with pro-Russian parties.

"Therefore, in principle, I hope that the government, which will be formed on the basis of these elections, will be pro-European, and that it will continue the same position that was defended by the current [government] in terms of support for Ukraine in the EU," the Ukrainian ambassador said.

The diplomat said at the same time that the ANO leader had rarely spoken on foreign policy issues. However, there is his absolutely clear position that he condemns the occupation of Crimea by Russia and Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. On the other hand, in Kyiv "of course, also noted his statement that sanctions against Russia, unfortunately, do not work as they should, and, obviously, the EU should look for more effective means of influence." However, in general, we "expect that the policy of a new Czech government will not go beyond the mainstream of the EU policy."

From the point of view of Ukrainian interests, Babis's position on labor migration deserves attention. Here, Perebyinis said, the ANO leader has a very clear position: in contrast to the Social Democrats, he advocates more active engagement of Ukrainians who, in his opinion, have proven themselves to be an extremely positive factor in the Czech economy over the past decades, to fill more than 200,000 jobs needed by the Czech Republic. 

"During the election campaign, the issue of Ukrainian workers and Ukrainians who could work in the Czech Republic was often the subject of disputes between the Social Democratic Party and ANO," the ambassador said.

Overall, judging by the results of the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, Perebyinis stated that they had demonstrated the triumph of the protest electorate, while the so-called traditional parties that were in power over the past 25 years received an extremely modest result, including the Social-Democratic Party, which heads the current government.

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