Czech PM under fire for bungling call for EU solidarity

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is under fire for having bungled the call for EU solidarity over the 2014 Vrbetice blasts.

The weekly Respekt has obtained a copy of a letter to the prime minister from his British counterpart Boris Johnson in which the British prime minister expresses regret that the Czech government did not inform its allies in advance about the outcome of the investigation before making it public.

The news site Politico recently wrote that German Chancellor Angela Merkel directed a similar rebuke to the Czech prime minister, saying that the Vrbětice matter and the Czech Republic’s response to it should have been coordinated with EU partners.

Although EU leaders have backed the Czech Republic in its row with Russia, only five other EU member states expelled Russian diplomats in solidarity with the country.