Zeman condemns Russia’s decision to declare the Czech Republic an “unfriendly state” / Article

Russia’s decision to include the Czech Republic in its list of “unfriendly countries” is foolish, Czech President Milos Zeman said. According to him, Russia is making a mistake in declaring its former friends enemies.

“If we can’t be friends, then we will try to maintain at least a good relationship,” Zemans added.

Russia published on Friday list of “unfriendly countries”in which for the time being only the US and the Czech Republic are included. Being on the list will affect the work of the diplomatic missions of the respective countries in Russia. The Czech diplomatic mission will be able to employ a maximum of 19 Russians, while the US Embassy will be able to employ none.

Russia added the Czech Republic to this list after Prague expelled 18 Russian diplomats in connection with the suspicion that in 2014 the Russian special services carried out explosions in an ammunition warehouse in the village of Vrbetice.

Czech political experts conclude that relations between Prague and Moscow are have dropped to their lowest point in more than 30 years.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has stated that the Czech Republic’s inclusion in the list of “unfriendly countries” will further worsen Moscow’s relations not only with Prague but also with the European Union (EU). Such actions will indirectly affect the relations between the citizens of the two countries, tourism and the development of business relations, the Czech Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On April 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order in response to unfriendly foreign actions. The order stipulates that embassies and consulates of “unfriendly countries” may be prohibited from hiring Russian citizens.

The Kremlin-controlled media previously reported that the Baltic states, Poland, Britain, Canada, Australia and Ukraine could also be included in the list of “unfriendly countries”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that only two countries would be included in Russia’s list of “unfriendly states”, “confirming Moscow’s readiness for dialogue,” the TASS news agency reported.

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