The government approved additional money for the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine

Prague – The government today approved another Czech contribution to the initiative to purchase ammunition to support Ukraine attacked by Russia from non-EU countries. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) did not state its amount. According to him, 20 countries have joined the initiative. He said this after today’s cabinet meeting. He thanked the countries that joined the purchase plan. According to him, the ammunition will arrive at the site within weeks to months, which affects the situation on the battlefield already. The government has expanded the national sanctions list to include two individuals and one legal entity, Fiala said. It concerns the politician and businessman Viktor Medvedčuk, the company Voice of Europe and the politician, media producer and propagandist Arťom Marčevský. The sanctions are intended to hit a pro-Russian network that tried to develop an influence operation in the Czech Republic. Citing the secrecy regime, Fiala declined to comment on whether the government was discussing filling the sensitive ambassadorial post in Moscow today.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated today that the number of artillery munitions to help Ukraine is not finite. Originally, the plan included the purchase of 800,000 artillery shells. According to the statement of Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates) to the Bloomberg agency, the amount of delivered ammunition could be almost double. “The fact that the initiative is now so broad is due to the fact that it is the only way to supply Ukraine with the ammunition it needs for a brave defense,” said Fiala. He reminded that the initiative is intended to bridge the critical shortage of ammunition by next year, when there should already be sufficient capacities in the EU.

Portugal officially joined the initiative today, having previously announced that it would contribute one hundred million euros. Minister of Defense Jana Černochová (ODS) and her Portuguese colleague signed a memorandum of understanding remotely today, which ensures the participation of Lisbon, the Ministry of Defense informed in a press release. Earlier, the Czech Ministry of Defense concluded similar documents with Denmark, Canada and Latvia.

“Building a solid contractual basis with partners within the initiative provides a solid basis for the current effort to supply ammunition to Ukraine. It will also enable another form of cooperation with the Czech defense industry. That is why we are also concluding memorandums of cooperation with the countries that have expressed interest in joining our initiative “, said Černochová. Other countries with which the Ministry of Defense plans to sign the document are Norway and the Netherlands.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the basis of the effort to help Ukraine with weapons has been discretion since the beginning, thanks to which the Czech Republic is trusted by partners all over the world. According to the office, “we managed to build an effective system that draws on reliable sources”.

The government expanded the national sanctions list by two individuals and one legal entity

Today, the government expanded the national sanctions list to include two individuals and one legal entity, Fiala said. It concerns the politician and businessman Viktor Medvedčuk, the company Voice of Europe and the politician, media producer and propagandist Arťom Marčevský. The sanctions are intended to hit a pro-Russian network that tried to develop an influence operation in the Czech Republic. This could potentially have a serious impact on the security of the Czech Republic and the European Union, said Fiala.

According to Fiala, Medvedchuk managed a number of influential networks from the Russian Federation and is personally connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “In the Czech Republic, the company uses Voice of Europe, which is the legal entity on the sanctions list,” he said. Marchevski also participates in these activities, he added. According to Fiala, the group’s activities extend beyond the borders of the Czech Republic and demonstrate Russia’s long-term efforts to influence democratic processes in Europe.

Fiala thanked the Security Information Service (BIS) for their important work, according to him, the cabinet’s decision is detailed and carefully supported on 300 pages. “We want to hit a pro-Russian network that tried to develop an influence operation on our territory. It would have a serious impact on the security of the Czech Republic and the EU. The goal was to carry out actions and activities in the EU against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” the prime minister added.

There were six items on the sanctions list so far. It involved the Moscow Patriarch Kirill, Russian businessman Vladimir Yevtushenko and his son Felix Yevtushenko, husband and wife Rostislav and Olga Zorikova, and a company for the management of Russian assets abroad. Businessman Boris Obnosov was removed from the sanctions list after the European Union imposed sanctions on him.

Inclusion on the sanctions list means for the given person a ban on entry to and residence in the Czech Republic, the impossibility of any financial operations through Czech entities or the freezing of any property in the country, which is in charge of the Financial Analysis Office. Inclusion on the list is made possible by the so-called Magnitsky Act, which has been in effect since last January. “The government has never shut down any websites and will not do so now, but state authorities will enforce compliance with the sanctions. In this case, they prevent Voice of Europe from continuing to operate,” added Fiala.

Fiala: The sanctioned wanted influence in the EP, there is no information about influencing the Czechs

Persons newly included on the national sanctions list sought to gain influence in the countries of the European Union and subsequently in the European Parliament (EP). The state has no information that it would concern Czech politicians and citizens, Fiala said. BIS on the X network https://twitter.com/biscz/status/1772975617505394934that her action revealed how Russia exerts influence on the territory of the EU states and how it tries to influence political processes.

Politician and businessman Viktor Medvedčuk, politician Arťom Marčevskij and the company Voice of Europe are newly on the Czech sanctions list. The newspaper N reported that the BIS uncovered a network organized by Russia that tried to influence the elections to the European Parliament in various European countries. According to counterintelligence, cash was handed over to anti-establishment politicians from Germany in Prague, other money went to the operation of a pro-Russian news website, the server wrote.

According to a source in Deník N close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, politicians from six EU states, namely Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary, received the money. The newspaper N reported that the case concerns, among other things, the German Alternative for Germany (AfD). “We do not have information that it concerns Czech politicians or Czech citizens. But we do have information that the goal was to operate in EU countries and gain influence in the EP,” said Fiala.

According to the rationale for inclusion on the sanctions list before 2022, Medvedchuk was an influential politician and oligarch who was a key proponent of pro-Russian policy in Ukraine. He lost his Ukrainian citizenship in 2022. “For a long time, he maintains close personal relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, from which he benefits,” the document says. From Russian territory, Medvedchuk conducts political and propaganda activities directed against the territorial integrity, independence, sovereignty, stability and security of Ukraine, according to the entry in the sanctions list.

According to the rationale, Medvedčuk also secretly finances Voice of Europe remotely and instructs Marčevský, who effectively runs the company. According to the document, he uses Marčevský to finance cooperation with journalists and to covertly support selected individuals from among the candidates in the EP elections. “And this for the purpose of supporting the foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation and political and propaganda activities directed against the territorial integrity, independence, sovereignty, stability and security of Ukraine,” the document states.

Voice of Europe then serves to influence and actively spread disinformation and propaganda directed against the territorial integrity, independence, sovereignty, stability and security of Ukraine. It spreads on Facebook, the X network and other platforms, but also through panel discussions and other events, including international participation, and is on the sanctions list.

Fiala did not comment on whether the government discussed the change at the embassy in Moscow

Citing the secrecy regime, Fiala declined to comment on whether the government was discussing filling the sensitive ambassadorial post in Moscow today. Already this morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that even in the case of discussion by the cabinet, the topic will remain secret. If approved by the government, the proposal would go to the Castle. According to the server Lidovka.cz, after months of negotiations, the plan for the Czech Republic to promote a new ambassador to a diplomatic position in Moscow has matured. According to several sources of the server, diplomat and former deputy at the Ministry of Defense Daniel Koštoval should become the new ambassador.

“I cannot break the law, the discussion of the deployment of diplomats is in secret mode until a certain point, so I cannot comment on these things,” said the prime minister. He later added that he personally prefers the Czech Republic to be represented in Moscow at the ambassadorial level. There are many reasons, he added. According to him, other countries with a similar attitude towards Russia as the Czech Republic behave similarly.

The government had several items on the agenda today in secret mode, the head of the Security Information Service (BIS) Michal Koudelka also participated in the meeting at the Straka Academy.

During his visit to the BIS headquarters on Tuesday, President Petr Pavel stated that he considers it important in the long term to have ambassador-level representation in Russia. He told journalists that it would be possible to prepare the sending of the ambassador and approach him in a more suitable situation. According to Koudelka, the most important thing is that the scope of Russian diplomatic representation in the Czech Republic has decreased significantly recently. Warnings against Russian activities have long been among the key passages in the public parts of BIS annual reports.

Last December, Pavel said that in the long term, the Czech Republic should have an ambassador in Russia. The ambassador in Russia is now Vítězslav Pivoňka, who has been staying in the Czech Republic for months. Diplomat Jiří Čistecký works in Moscow as a deputy ambassador. Earlier, Pavel was more restrained than Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský (Pirates) on the issue of the new ambassador in Moscow.

According to President Pavle, the question of occupying a place in Moscow is now a matter for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government and the Castle.

The Czech Republic has had strained diplomatic relations with Russia since 2021 after the Czech secret services and investigators discovered that Russian secret service agents were involved in the 2014 explosions in ammunition warehouses in Vrbětice in the Zlín region. The number of Russian diplomats in the Czech Republic continued to decrease even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine the year before last. Six diplomats worked at the Russian embassy in Prague last year.

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