Zeman to provide PM with “evidence” justifying refusal to promote counter-intel chief to general

President Miloš Zeman will provide Prime Minister Andrej Babiš with “material evidence” on the director of the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) Michal Koudelka, which he says “will serve as an argument” for why the president has again refused to promote Mr. Koudelka to the rank of general as is common for intelligence officials of his position, President Zeman told the daily Mladá fronta Dnes in an interview published on Saturday.


The Czech head of state has continually omitted the BIS chief from the annual list of promotions for five years now. Speaking to Mlada fronta Dnes, Zeman said that he believes Mr. Koudelka should be fired, but believes such a move is now irrelevant as the head of Czech civilian counterintelligence’s term in office is set to run out in one year anyway.


Several opposition politicians have condemned the president’s controversial statement. Jan Lipavský, who is a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Pirate Party, went as far as to say that it is “another example of the president’s treachery”, Mf Dnes writes. The leader of the Mayors and Independents party, Vít Rakušan, said he trusts the head of Czech counter-intelligence and that the reason why the president is seeking to discredit him is because Mr. Koudelka is “speaking out regarding dangers that the president does not want to hear about”.


Michal Koudelka has been in charge of the Security Information Service since August 2016. Last year, he received the George Tenet award for international cooperation from the US Central Intelligence Agency. The service he leads has been vocal in its annual reports regarding intelligence threats from Russia and China, which the president has in turn ridiculed in the media.