Overview
- Okamura, elected speaker on November 5 with 107 of 200 votes, ordered the flag taken down on November 6 and posted video of the action.
- The Ukrainian flag had flown over the Chamber of Deputies since February 2022 as a gesture of solidarity after Russia’s invasion.
- Lawmakers from ODS, STAN, and the Pirate Party responded by displaying Ukrainian flags from their office windows and publicly criticizing the move.
- Former speaker Marketa Pekarova Adamova called the flag a symbol of humanitarian solidarity and condemned its removal.
- Okamura said he was honoring an SPD campaign pledge as the ANO–SPD–Automobilists coalition takes office and domestic debate over support for Ukraine intensifies.