Defence minister suggests Russian completion of Temelín unlikely

Czech Defence Minister Martin Stropnický has said he finds it difficult to imagine that Russian firms would complete new units at the Czech Republic’s Temelín nuclear power plant in light of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. On Monday, the minister accused Russia of blatantly ignoring international law; he said the country could no longer be counted among predictable democratic states, calling its actions “unacceptable”. Fellow minister in government Jiří Dienstbier expressed a similar view, saying that while it was only his personal opinion, he could not imagine Russian companies taking part in the tender, stressing that a country that resorted to military aggression represented a security risk. The Russian consortium MIR 1200 was in the running against US-based Westinghouse to complete the power plant. The Czech government has officially condemned Russia’s actions in Crimea and has called on Russia not to resort to military action.