Overview
- Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka will summon Ukraine’s ambassador, Vasyl Zvarych, over his public response to the speaker’s New Year address.
- Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Czech chargé d’affaires in a mirror step over what it called unacceptable statements by Tomio Okamura.
- Okamura’s holiday speech sharply criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky, opposed Ukraine’s EU membership, and spoke against aid to Kyiv.
- Deputy Prime Minister Alena Schillerová called the ambassador’s reaction inappropriate and cited Czech acceptance of many Ukrainian refugees per capita.
- Kyiv stressed that strategic cooperation with Prague should not be harmed, while Czech opposition factions began collecting signatures to remove Okamura as speaker.