We hit a pro-Russian network in the Czech Republic. Fiala announced the expansion of the sanctions list

“We have decided to include three entities on the national sanctions list. These are two natural persons and one legal entity,” the Prime Minister announced after the cabinet meeting.

According to the Prime Minister, the first person to be sanctioned is the politician and businessman Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk, who is said to be closely connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He runs a number of influence activities and networks from the Russian Federation,” Fiala said. In the Czech Republic, they try to influence social discourse through the company Voice from Europe, which is the legal entity included in the sanctions list.

The second natural person is the politician Arťom Pavlovič Marčevkyj, who, according to the prime minister, also participated in these activities.

“With this step, we decided to hit a pro-Russian network that was trying to develop an influence operation on our territory that would have a serious impact on the security of the Czech Republic. The operation of this group was to carry out actions against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The behavior that is affected by those sanctions is carefully documented. The evidence package contains over 300 pages,” the prime minister said, thanking the Security Information Service (BIS) for its work.

According to him, the activity did not directly concern the political level of the Czech Republic, even though it took place on our territory, but extended beyond the borders of the Czech Republic, for example, it was directed towards the European Parliament, which Fiala understands as confirmation of Russia’s long-term efforts to interfere and influence democratic processes in Europe. “Other countries and institutions will work with that information and our decision,” he concluded.