Zeman called the Czech Republic "a former friend of Russia"

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On Friday, May 14, the Russian government approved the list of unfriendly countries, which includes the United States and the Czech Republic. Czech President Milos Zeman reacted to the inclusion of his country on this list, noting the "stupidity" and "mistake" of the Russian authorities.

It is unacceptable to make enemies out of former friends

- said the head of the Czech Republic in an interview with the Prague radio station F1.



He also expressed the opinion that the explosion at the weapons depot in the village of Vrbetitsa seven years ago could be connected not with the actions of Russian citizens, but with an attempt to hide the lack of ammunition. In this regard, Zeman insists on a detailed investigation of what happened in Vrbetica in 2014.

The President of the Czech Republic also recalled an article published on May 14 in the Mladá fronta DNES, which spoke about the shortage of ammunition from the Imex Group lease company, revealed after the explosion in Vrbetica. According to representatives of the company, the weapons were stolen by intruders or policemen, the damage amounted to about $ 4,7 million - the Imex Group was going to recover it from the state.

Now, according to Zeman, Mladá fronta DNES has published noteworthy material that those "rocket launchers" were not affected by the explosion, which raises many questions to the company itself. The version with a "Russian trace" is a serious accusation against the Russian Federation, therefore it is necessary to thoroughly and comprehensively investigate what happened in Vrbetica seven years ago.
  • Presidential Press and Information Office
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  1. +2
    17 May 2021 10: 32
    Zeman called the Czech Republic "a former friend of Russia"

    Zeman, unfortunately, does not really control his country himself, to speak like that for all Czechs.

    "Was there a boy?"

    Were the Czechs ever, in general, friends of Russia?

    Probably not.

    And if not, then they cannot become former, a priori.

    The same can be said equally about the entire “eastern bloc”.
    1. -2
      17 May 2021 13: 47
      This time I cannot agree with you. Until recently, the Czechs were friends with us, at least officially - as members of the "Eastern bloc", and after the collapse of the USSR, the reorientation of the Czech Republic itself, etc., the country for a long time, unlike the West, remained visa-free for the Russian Federation, etc. Now the power has changed, as in the same Ukraine, and the country has become unfriendly, but nevertheless, the same Czechs are clearly better friends to us than, say, the Swedes or the British ... despite the political solitaire.
      By the way, I do not really understand why the latter were not recorded as unfriendly - they certainly deserve it ...
      In general, there is one wonderful tool for friendship between peoples - military force. And no one has yet come up with a better argument for "making friends with states" ...
      1. +2
        17 May 2021 14: 55
        the country has become unfriendly, but nevertheless the same Czechs are clearly better friends to us than, say, the Swedes or the British ...

        Well, maybe I didn't put it right enough. I'll try.

        As for the Swedes and the British (and "those of their ilk"), there is no comparison, from the word - in general: well, what can they be, Russia, friends?

        They are, simply and unambiguously, historical enemies. They have always been, are and will be.

        And about the "eastern bloc", I categorically did not state this. There, of course, everything is more complicated. Although, if, all the same, you look objectively, then I (personally) have no grounds at all to consider Czechs as friends.
        Just the Czechs (and with them the Slovaks), during the "Third Reich", quickly and easily became the direct allies of Hitler's Germany.
        The Czech military-industrial complex, being a reliable "forge of the Third Reich", regularly and in large quantities, supplied Hitler with both military armored vehicles and aircraft, as well as heavy artillery and small arms.

        Noteworthy, for example, is the confession of Lieutenant Colonel Helmut Ritgen:

        .... "Without the Czech military industry and Czech tanks, we would not have had four tank divisions, which would have made an attack on the Soviet Union impossible."

        https://nvo.ng.ru/history/2020-05-22/13_1093_history.html

        What was it with Vysotsky: "And not a friend, and not an enemy, but so .."?

        So, in the context of the above, the Czechs do not even pull "so".

        Of course, I understand that you are considering the Czech Republic in the present tense, but, as you can see, even today the Czechs have again manifested their "anti-Russian potential."
        1. +1
          18 May 2021 13: 08
          Just the Czechs (and with them the Slovaks), during the "Third Reich", quickly and easily became the direct allies of Hitler's Germany.
          The Czech military-industrial complex, being a reliable "forge of the Third Reich", regularly and in large quantities, supplied Hitler with both military armored vehicles and aircraft, as well as heavy artillery and small arms.

          - absolutely agree. The Czechs themselves, like the Slovaks and everyone else, just somehow forgot to ask about it. (remember Munich 1938) In the same way, we did not ask them too much later, when they suddenly became our allies after 1945, and we were also supplied with a lot of things.
          And I will quote myself wink

          there is one wonderful tool for friendship between peoples - military force. And no one has yet come up with a better argument for "making friends with states" ...

          So what do you actually disagree with? All these small states are "friends", but in fact they simply survive, exclusively in this way. Under whom there is, under that and live. They have no choice. And in 1989 we surrendered them ourselves, with all their pro-Soviet special services, the same army and the same leadership.
          We passed it, others picked it up. Everything has changed again, now they are not ours again. Why are we surprised? Czechs do not decide anything for themselves in foreign policy. Although in the general mass of the population both Russians and Russia are treated much better than in the West.
          Zeman said everything correctly, as usual. Former friends. the same Swedes and Englishmen mentioned above have never been our friends at the state level.
          1. +2
            18 May 2021 14: 06
            - absolutely agree. The Czechs themselves, like the Slovaks and everyone else, just somehow forgot to ask about it. (think Munich 1938)

            Yes, but in this way we can get to the point that the same can be said about the German people themselves.

            And in general about any kind of people. I do not think that an ordinary American fell asleep every night with the cherished dream of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by an atomic bomb, but it happened. Not all Ukrainians were imbued with the spirit of the Maidan and the coming to power of nationalists, but this also happened.

            Then, of course, the question arises: is there any role at all for the people, as such, in anything?
            Should, then, at least someone be held accountable for war crimes?
            If so, then who?
            Politician? Warlord, Soldier? Or maybe the one who gave birth, raised and raised, fed, supported, armed the soldier?)) Or who?

            So that's it. All this is called in one simple word: demagoguery.

            Behind any act of the state is its people. And the people are also responsible.

            there is one wonderful tool for friendship between peoples - military force. And no one has yet come up with a better argument for "making friends with states" ...

            So what do you actually disagree with?

            I didn’t dispute that.)

            ..All these small states are "friends", but in fact they just survive ...
            ..We passed, others picked up ...

            ..Czechs do not decide anything for themselves in foreign policy. ...

            "Natural selection" spared them, so everything is not so bad for them.)

            In fact, you and I have no reason to argue. Your position is clear to me and, in principle, close.
            1. +1
              18 May 2021 15: 30
              Well, that's good. drinks started something like that Zeman called us "former friends", which is generally correct.
              What about

              so we can get to the point that the same can be said about the German people themselves.

              - we cannot: they themselves chose Hitler, voluntarily. And we made revolutions for ourselves (albeit with someone else's help) both in 1917 and in 1991. Yes, when the people do something within themselves - good or bad - they are responsible for it themselves. And the small peoples of Europe just poked their muzzle at the floor who is stronger and that's it. They are not themselves, but them and outside. This is for themselves in their textbooks they write about some "velvet revolution". It's all lies. The USSR and the USA agreed, and the Czechs had a "revolution". The Germans agreed with the British - and became the Protectorate, the USA and the USSR in 1945 and we became socialist friends ... etc., etc. And now the former ...
              1. +2
                18 May 2021 17: 36
                started something like that Zeman called us "former friends", which is generally correct.

                Yes, but Zeman is just a separately taken personality, which of course can have his own opinion, just as Russians can accept or dispute this opinion, but the point is that Zeman's opinion is not shared in the first place by themselves Czechs. Judging by the reaction of the Czech people, represented by the representatives of the Czech government, it is the people, not Zeman, who are "resolutely" against the Russian state today. But this is exactly what we are talking about.

                If we draw parallels with the “fooled by Nazi propaganda, the German people who chose Hitler,” then the similarities between today's Czechs “fooled by anti-Russian propaganda” are obvious. The Czechs themselves made their anti-Russian choice, and this is what received a corresponding reaction from the Kremlin.
                1. +1
                  19 May 2021 00: 36
                  Judging by the reaction of the Czech people, represented by the representatives of the Czech government, it is the people, not Zeman, who are "resolutely" against the Russian state today. But this is exactly what we are talking about.

                  - I personally do not like phrases like "the Ukrainian people are fraternal to us, but the authorities are enemies," and so forth, but, unfortunately, in many ways this is the case. I imagine Ukraine quite well, and during the USSR and now, the Czech Republic is even better. The people in the Czech Republic are just very divided in this opinion, and we have about half of our friends in the Czech Republic (at least), and most likely there are actually more, but it's not fashionable to talk about it now, so to speak ... This fact just proves the fact that it was Zeman that this very people chose by direct vote for the second time. Just instead of purely pro-Western henchmen. It is possible that I would have chosen the third, but Zeman himself no longer pulls on health.
                  But the composition of the Czech government takes place according to somewhat different principles - voting takes place according to party lists, and within the parties "necessary" characters are already nominated. nominated by those who currently run the country. And this is not us now.
                  Hence all the consequences ... At the same time, even the most pro-Western citizens understand that all the latest actions of the Czech "authorities" are a shot in the foot.
                  And the authorities understand, but they cannot do anything from the word at all, even if they wanted theoretically.
                  1. +1
                    19 May 2021 01: 46
                    And the authorities understand, but they cannot do anything from the word at all, even if they wanted theoretically.

                    Yes, that's right. And again we came to where I started:

                    Zeman, unfortunately, does not really control his country himself, to speak like that for all Czechs.

                    As a result, we have what we have:
                    The official Czech Republic is anti-Russian - and this is a fact. Therefore, the Kremlin had no choice but to add the Czech Republic to the "list of unfriendly countries."

                    The helplessness of the Czech authorities is a problem of the Czech authorities, and this in no way justifies President Zeman's statements about "... the stupidity and" mistake of the Russian authorities. "
                    1. +1
                      19 May 2021 12: 56
                      Yes, Zeman naturally does not control the country in terms of governance. Another system is parliamentary. Surprisingly, at first glance, it is precisely this that is more convenient for external administration, albeit only in developed countries, where at least the appearance of a workers' democracy is being made. So, of course, "your" dictator is even more effective, but in Europe it will not work ... yet. And Ukraine is NOT Europe. This is where they exercise on this topic - the transition from democracy to dictatorship. Well, this has already happened in Europe, we all know how it ended ...
                      I fully agree with the thesis that it is the OFFICIAL Czech Republic that is anti-Russian. In reality, everything is much more complicated.
                      And when considering Zeman's statements, one must, of course, bear in mind that he is a Czech president and a Czech himself with a Czech mentality, worldview and vision of the situation from the Czech side, albeit reasonably enough. In reality, very few people, being in their own country, are able to rise above the national worldview and evaluate things a little more globally, even in relation to their own state.
                      If you fell and broke your knee, then the main thing for you personally will be dealing with your injury, stopping the blood, disinfection, etc., and not reasoning about how and why it happened to you. Although in fact the latter is more important.
                      It's easier for me with this - I have the opportunity to look at things from both sides at the same time.
                      And the real situation is such that in the developed countries of Eastern Europe, with the exception of the Baltic states - in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and even in Poland, no matter how surprising it may seem to anyone, at the moment all the "pro-Western" is in a greatly weakened state and this course is supported as much as possible and according to the most optimistic guises no more than half of the population. And governments with their pro-Western course are kept exclusively at the expense of the same West. In fact - kick it well, and everything will sprinkle, just like the "socialist camp" 30 years ago ...
                      PS ... as for unfriendly countries, I am personally very surprised that there is only the United States and the Czech Republic. And what about Britain, Poland, Balts, Romanians, Bulgarians, etc.? Friends or what? I am generally silent about Ukraine. For what and with what fright did they get preferences? Are the nations friendly? so both in the Czech Republic and in America, we are certainly far from being enemies of the entire population ...
                      1. +2
                        19 May 2021 17: 03
                        ..I completely agree with the thesis that it is the OFFICIAL Czech Republic that is anti-Russian ...

                        ... so both in the Czech Republic and in America, we are certainly far from being enemies of the entire population ...

                        Let's walk along the path of your logic together.

                        That is, in your opinion, if the OFFICIAL Czech Republic is anti-Russian (despite the fact that “not the entire population is enemies”), then this gives the Czech President Zeman the right to declare, for the ALL Czech people, that the Russians (ALL Russian people) , Czechs are now "FORMER friends", and what, too, only because the OFFICIAL Kremlin, forcibly, and in the context of today's realities, added the Czech Republic to the list of "unfriendly states"?

                        Well, how is that not very honest, not friendly?)

                        Or maybe the Czechs have never been friends of the Russians, and so, justifying their "little national" habit, adapt, putting on only a "friend's mask" for the next owners?

                        Moreover, you yourself do not deny this:

                        ... All these small states are "friends", but in fact they simply survive, exclusively in this way. Under whom there is, under that and live. They have no choice ...

                        But it was with this that our dispute began. Was there a boy?

                        Do not misunderstand me. I am not at all against the Czechs, or any other people. I don't remember who the saying belongs, but it sounded something like this: "There are no bad nations, there are bad people."

                        But if all this hostility, as a result, ends in a real war (and this is where it goes), then there will be no time for sentimentality, and it will not be "individual people" that will have to fight, but nations.
                      2. +1
                        20 May 2021 12: 01
                        .... if you follow the path of logic and from the very beginning, then I answered you this:

                        Were the Czechs ever, in general, friends of Russia?

                        The answer was there were. At the state level, officially, and this is how it was declared on both sides from 1945 to 1989, despite the excesses that took place. The only one more precisely, in fact not very significant, and unjustifiably widely inflated - in 1968, they never saw anything bad from Russia and the Russians in their entire history, rather just the opposite. And from 1989 to about 2010, the relationship was quite at a good level, although "passionately."
                        And then the question arose whether Zeman's opinion reflects the opinion of the Czech people, or rather the Russophobic behavior of the Czech government reflects it. My answer was that the opinion of the people rather reflects the opinion of Zeman than of the government, since it was the president of the Czech Republic that was elected by this very people in a direct vote for the second time. And with the government, everything is much more complicated, it is much further from the people and their opinions.
                        This is if you briefly collapse all the previous.
  2. -3
    17 May 2021 11: 06
    It seems to me that El Murid's little post (El Murid-15th in the overall rating) is the best of the many comments on this topic. I quote it in full.

    And there were some conversations!

    A powerful response to the malevolent West called "The List of Unfriendly Countries" turned out to be a well-known meme, where in the film "Bacchus and Ariadne" Guido Reni Ariadne put the phrase "Hospadi, but there was talk!"

    The Foreign Ministry rolled its eyes for a couple of weeks, leaked from dozens of candidates for the title of an unfriendly country, hinted at the terrible consequences of assigning the status ... As a result, a short list of two points and an absolutely unaffordable sanction - a ban on hiring Russian citizens to work in embassies. And even then - the Czechs here too have been relaxed.

    Honestly, it would be better if they were forbidden to open accounts in some Chuvash “United Bank of the Republic” - it would look more solid.

    And it was people who worked tirelessly, received a salary for this, did not go home, their wife and children were literally abandoned for the preparation of the most important document. And at the exit - a memorial picture.

    And that's how it is in everything.
    1. 0
      17 May 2021 11: 37
      Swing for a ruble, but a blow for a penny, even the outskirts turned out to be not an enemy, but so ...
      1. GRF
        0
        17 May 2021 12: 09
        And who said that under this label, they will not start to arrange a demonstrative flogging?
        Conduct, so to speak, "exercises" on relaxed buns, sighing with relief?
        It’s a pity for our neighbors, we live with them, but the Czechs must have been very unlucky for them, even on their Russian fellow citizens, it will be difficult to recoup, so they should not relax ...
    2. +1
      17 May 2021 13: 51
      ... you, apparently, are not good at politics. For the United States, the ban on hiring local workers in the diplomatic mission is a huge blow - the number of diplomatic workers is considered comprehensively, without taking into account whether it is a consul, a cultural attaché (espionage) or a caretaker. Since the number of workers must be equal, Americans everywhere have benefited from hiring locals for all technical positions, while also recruiting all these citizens with promises of US citizenship. In the Russian Federation, everyone works everywhere - local at least. And now the states will have to reduce their real dippers, recruiting their own supply managers and janitors ...
      1. -2
        17 May 2021 19: 12
        the number of diplomatic workers is considered comprehensively, without taking into account whether it is a consul, a cultural attaché (espionage) or a caretaker

        Sorry, buddy, I don’t know in which country you worked in our embassies, but it’s not true.
        With those countries where the number of embassy personnel is quoted:
        There are so many diplomats, they have diplomatic passports
        There are so many of those staff, they are with the usual
        A border guard in uniform was sitting at the checkpoint of our UN mission in Geneva.
        1. +1
          18 May 2021 13: 17
          A border guard in uniform was sitting at the checkpoint of our UN mission in Geneva.

          - what border guard? Russian or what? In general, I don't see any connection ... The guards generally go separately, and locals usually sit at the checkpoints always and everywhere, according to the Vienna Convention, the guards of diplomatic missions on the receiving side. Their own special services are already inside. Only sometimes, together with the local police, they stand outside, usually in hot spots. Or the Americans themselves love to do it, showing "presence".
          And the UN missions in Geneva, New York and so on are generally considered separately both in terms of quotas for people and in status - these are not the embassies of a particular country in another particular state.
          1. 0
            18 May 2021 14: 05
            what border guard? Russian or what?

            Russian. In uniform and cap. You show your passport through the glass, he opens the door.
            1. 0
              18 May 2021 15: 22
              I have never been to the UN in Geneva (there are more attractive places in this city), but something is hard to believe ... And that there was a border guard in each mission of each country?
              1. 0
                18 May 2021 17: 13
                I was also at the UN office in Geneva. This is the building of the former League of Nations. I went to see a friend. The cabinets are tiny ... There was no security at all.
                I am writing about our office, they are there side by side.
                The daily allowance was then 25 francs, and there is a good COOP store. Wife jeans, daughter Barbie ... Okay ...
  3. 123
    0
    17 May 2021 11: 55
    Zeman is a politician and "follows the bazaar", it can be said more simply and without tricks, the definition of "former friend" can be expressed in one word and we know him. Zeman simply stated the fact and delicately expressed his position, he does not like it. That's just - I like it, I don't like it, sleep my beauty ... (this is a replica of the Americans).
  4. 0
    17 May 2021 14: 04
    ... Zeman called the Czech Republic "a former friend of Russia" ...

    - cannot be another state in which the owner posts an ad on the hotel door - “We do not place citizens of the Russian Federation”.
    1. -1
      17 May 2021 19: 15
      I have not seen this, but here is the price list:
      For the natives
      For foreigners

      I am very amused ...
    2. 0
      18 May 2021 13: 20
      ... maybe it's true that in the most friendly state no one is safe from anyone