Prague’s Turning Point
The Czech Republic, Russia, and the War in Ukraine
Vladimír Handl, Kateřina Řežábková, Zuzana Zavadilová
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Czech Republic long maintained good relations with Russia. The turning point came in April 2021, when Czech intelligence proved that Russia’s military intelligence service, GRU, had carried out attacks on a Czech ammunition depot. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the estrangement between Prague and Moscow deepened. With broad parliamentary backing, the Czech Republic has been supporting Ukraine financially, politically, and militarily since 24 February 2022. However, the strongest opposition party ANO under former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is mobilizing against this support. The communists and right-wing radicals under Tomio Okamura are also trying to make political capital out of people’s war-weariness with the slogan “This is not our war.”
(Osteuropa 11-12/2024, pp. 57–67)