Opposition seeks removal of Czech lower house speaker after controversial speech
Czech lower house Speaker Tomio Okamura's New Year speech has ignited a major dispute on the Czech political scene less than a month after the new government took office. The address, peppered with insults against both Ukraine and the EU, has sparked outrage among opposition politicians, who are calling for Okamura’s dismissal from the third highest post in the country.
In his New Year’s address, posted on social networks, Tomio Okamura said that under the new Czech leadership no more money would be sent to Ukraine, which he portrayed as a corrupt country of thieves eating up funds that should rightly go to the Czech people. He also expressed the view that the Czech Republic should “jump off the Brussels train”, which he claimed is heading towards a third world war, despite warnings from the US president.
The speech triggered strong reactions from the opposition and from Ukraine’s Ambassador to Prague Vasyl Zvarych who described the remarks as offensive, hateful and shaped by Russian propaganda.
“The words Mr. Okamura used against my compatriots and against Ukraine, including its democratically elected leadership, are undignified and completely unacceptable. They run counter to the principles of a democratic society and to the values on which the Czech Republic, as an integral part of the European community, is founded,” the ambassador said. He added that he expected Czech state authorities and civil society to assess the statements and their compatibility with the high constitutional office Okamura holds.
The Czech opposition parties also expressed outrage over the speech and want to hold a vote on removing Okamura as speaker of the lower house.
The reactions of the ruling coalition indicate that while Okamura’s coalition partners are not too happy about the intensity and form of the sentiments expressed, the country’s foreign policy line on Ukraine has changed - in terms of further military aid provided - and that this stance should be respected –at home and abroad.
Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) said he does not consider it appropriate for a foreign ambassador to publicly comment on statements by one of the country’s highest constitutional officials. “If any diplomatic mission has reservations or questions, there are standard diplomatic channels for that. Czech politics, however, is a matter for Czech citizens and their democratically elected representatives,” he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Sunday that Mr. Macinka had requested a meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador to clarify the matter. According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Wernerová, the meeting is not a formal summons, which in diplomacy is used as a form of protest or to express serious concern by the host country toward the state the ambassador represents.
Meanwhile, ANO, the strongest party in the government, has made it clear that the ruling coalition will not support Okamura’s dismissal from the post of speaker.
In a televised debate, Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) said that while she herself would not have used such strong language as Okamura, the Ukrainian ambassador had overreacted to the speech. “I think the part in which Mr. Zvarych appealed to civil society was really over the line,” she said.
Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlíček (ANO) echoed those sentiments, describing the opposition’s proposal to remove Okamura as speaker as “a hysterical reaction”.
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš made only a brief comment on the controversial address, saying that Okamura had been speaking primarily to his own voters, but there have been indications that the matter will be discussed in private by coalition representatives.
President Petr Pavel has also said he wants to discuss the matter with the prime minister.
“Statements by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, the third-highest constitutional official, are causing concern not only among our citizens but also abroad, among our allies and partners,” the president said. He emphasized that coordination of foreign and security policy is the foundation of the country’s credibility as a partner.
