News

The Czech Army will carry out the evacuation from Afghanistan of Czech diplomats, local embassy staff and their families and interpreters who helped the army, a spokesperson for the Czech Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. This should occur in “the coming days”, the spokesperson said, adding that further details could not be revealed for security reasons. Czech diplomats are currently at the international airport in Kabul, where they are being protected by Czech soldiers.

On Sunday afternoon the minister of defence, Lubomír Metnar, said that his officials were in contact with all interpreters who had provided assistance to the Czech Army; any who say they have not been contacted ceased to participate in the programme some time ago or failed to pass a security screening, he said.

Michal Koudelka’s term as director of the Czech Republic’s BIS counterintelligence service ends on Sunday. Whether he should remain in the post has been a burning political issue in recent weeks, with President Miloš Zeman a long-term critic of Mr. Koudelka and the BIS as a whole.

With general elections due in October, the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš decided to make Mr. Koudelka acting head of the counterintelligence service once his term ended; the next government will resolve the matter of filling the post on a permanent basis.

Critics say the question should have been resolved some time ago and that Mr. Babiš been pressured by the president with regard to Mr. Koudelka.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš says it was “nonsense” for Western forces to pull out of Afghanistan and that this has been confirmed by the current situation in the country. Speaking on Saturday, Mr. Babiš said the Czech Republic had been against the withdrawal from the beginning.

The prime minister said he could not reveal details about how the government would look after Afghan interpreters who worked with the Czech Army for security reasons.

The Prague government has faced criticism for its slow approach to helping the interpreters.

Mr. Babiš said, however, that he had already called on the opposition to withhold such comments as they knew nothing about the situation and endangered those the government were trying to help.

The Czech Republic has withdrawn its diplomats from the Afghan capital to the city’s international airport, the Czech foreign minister, Jakub Kulhánek, said on Saturday. The two diplomats are currently under the protection of Czech military police at the airport.

Mr. Kulhánek announced the move following a meeting of the Czech government’s crisis committee, and said it had been taken in view of the serious security situation in Afghanistan; it followed consultations with the country’s allies and came at the recommendation of the Czech ambassador in Kabul.

The Czech foreign minister made no mention of the potential evacuation of Afghan interpreters who have served the Czech Army. Critics say the Prague government has been too slow to come to their aid.