Importing Russian gas and oil again would help Czechia combat high costs, says Okamura

The leader of coalition party Freedom and Direct Democracy, Tomio Okamura, says one solution to high energy and fuel costs would be to take gas and oil from Russia. Speaking to TV Nova, Mr. Okamura – who is also speaker of the lower house – said this would allow Czechia to diversify its sources once again and to guarantee its energy security.

This call has been rejected by members of the previous government, who ended Czech dependency on imports from Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ex-PM Petr Fiala called on current government head Andrej Babiš to disown talk of such “collaborationist” cooperation with Moscow.