Former Czech President Vaclav Klaus. Photo: TASS “We are punishing one of the great powers in the world … I see this as proof that our country does not have a proper foreign policy,” former Czech President Vaclav Klaus on April 23 told Blesk newspaper. is based in Prague, mentioning Czech-Russian diplomatic tensions, TASS reported. Mr. Vaclav Klaus also said that the fact that Czech diplomats tried to blame Russian intelligence for the Vrbetice explosion in 2014 and used it as an excuse to expel Russian diplomats, is an act of trying to score points with The United States and the NATO military in the hope of receiving support. According to Mr. Klaus, the Czechs were hasty in this case. He argued that Prague “should have waited for true and serious evidence” before making any conclusions regarding the Vrbetice explosion. “It was a mistake to issue an ultimatum to Russia before having the facts,” Klaus warned. The former Czech president also revealed that he had discussions with his successor, current Czech President Milos Zeman, about tensions with Russia and the explosion seven years ago in Vrbetice. Russia-Czech relations became strained after Prague last week expelled 18 Russian diplomats accused of being officers of intelligence services. Prague also questioned Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency was involved in the ammunition explosion in Vrbetice in October 2014 that caused two deaths. Russia denied all related allegations and asked 20 staff of the Czech Embassy in Moscow to leave Russian territory in response. Moscow’s strong retaliation surprised Czechs. On April 22, the Czech Republic again expelled 63 more Russian diplomats and staff, followed by corresponding action from Russia.

Three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have expelled a total of four Russian diplomats to show solidarity with the Czech Republic (Czech) in diplomatic retaliation for alleged Russian secret involvement. ammunition warehouse explosions in Czech, news agency AFP said. On April 17, the Czech Republic accused the Russian Secret Service of being behind a fatal explosion at an arsenal in eastern Czechs in 2014 and thus expelled 18 Russian diplomats. This decision led to a series of “reciprocal” responses between Prague and Moscow. The Czech Republic has called on allies in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Bloc (NATO) to unite and support the decision of the Prague government. On April 23, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced his decision to expel two staff of the Russian Embassy in Vilnius for “behavior inconsistent with diplomatic status” and ordered them to leave Lithuania within seven days. Russian Embassy in Riga (Latvia). Photo: TASS The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry stressed that “this decision shows our solidarity (ie the Vilnius government) with our ally after an unprecedented and dangerous incident in the Czech Republic”. Lithuania also offered to support the Czech Embassy in Moscow in carrying out its functions after Czech diplomats were expelled by Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that by May 31st, the Russian Embassy in Prague and the Czech Embassy in Moscow will only maintain 7 diplomatic staff, 25 technical and administrative staff, as well as right to hire up to 19 employees who are nationals of the host country. Thus, the number of Czech diplomats in Moscow must be reduced by 16, while the number of Russian diplomats in Prague is only one-sixth of the current number. On the same day 23-4, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced the expulsion of a staff member of the Russian Embassy in Riga. The Latvian Foreign Ministry explained that this was a move to show “solidarity with the Czech”, based on “information provided by Latvian authorities” and was made after consulting with allies. EU and NATO. And the Estonian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat who the Tallinn government said was behaving inconsistent with diplomatic principles. Estonia emphasized that it was “an expression of solidarity with the Czechs” and criticized the actions of the Russian secret service as the Czech accused it of being “unacceptable”. In response to the decision of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, the Russian Embassy in Riga said that this “unfriendly action” would “have the most negative impact on the development of Russian-Latvian relations”. The Russian diplomatic delegation also announced that Moscow would soon take measures to respond, according to the news agency TASS . The Russian embassy in Tallinn was also dissatisfied by Estonia’s decision, saying that the decision to expel Russian diplomats could undermine efforts to improve Russia-Estonian relations. The Russian diplomatic delegation to Lithuania does not appear to have commented on the decision of the Vilnius government yet. Before the three Baltic countries, Slovakia expelled three members of the Russian Embassy in Bratislava to show solidarity with its neighbor Czech.

Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek announced that Russia would not be allowed to have more diplomats in Prague than the number of Czech diplomats currently available at their embassy in Moscow. Except for the number of diplomats allowed to be maintained, all remaining staff at the Russian embassy in Prague had to leave by the end of May. Notice comes after Russia expulsion 20 Czech diplomats on April 18 in retaliation for the Czech government’s expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats, identified as spies by Russian intelligence services. Russian Embassy in Prague. Photo: PM. The Czech government objected to what it called Russia’s “inappropriate response”, saying that Russia crippled the Czech Embassy in Moscow. Foreign Minister Kulhanek warned that if Russia does not regulate the expulsion of Czech diplomats at the last minute, he will cut the staffing of the Russian Embassy in Prague to be equal to their remaining staff at the embassy. Checks in Moscow. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the ministry had summoned the Czech ambassador on April 22. “It is unacceptable to speak to Russia,” said Ms. Zakharova.