After an almost three-year break, the Czech authorities decided to unexpectedly return their ambassador to the aggressor country Russia, which has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than 10 years.
Points of attention
- Daniel Kostoval will head the Czech mission in Moscow.
- He has many years of experience in the field of foreign policy.
- Relations between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation have deteriorated significantly over the past few years.
Why is the Czech Republic returning its ambassador to Moscow
As the journalists managed to find out, the new ambassador of the Czech Republic in Moscow will be Daniel Kostoval, a former deputy minister of defense.
He should take office in the first months of next year.
Ambassadors in Russia have key countries that are strategic allies of the Czech Republic — Great Britain, France, Germany or the United States of America. I wish the ambassador a lot of strength in this difficult mission, — the head of Czech diplomacy, Jan Lipavsky, commented on this decision.
In addition, it is emphasized that Koshtoval has already received the consent of the host country, the so-called agreement.
The new ambassador of the Czech Republic to Russia has been working in the diplomatic service for almost 30 years: in the positions of director of the security policy department, director of the Northern and Eastern Europe department, and general director for non-European countries.
What is important to know about diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation
The first large-scale crisis between the countries took place 3 years ago.
It was then that the Czech special services and investigators discovered that agents of the Russian special services were involved in the 2014 explosions at ammunition depots in Vrbetice, Zlín Region.
In addition, the number of Russian diplomats in the Czech Republic has again sharply decreased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago. In 2023, 6 diplomats worked at the Russian embassy in Prague.
Constitutional officials have long debated whether to have an ambassador in Moscow during the current Russian military aggression in Ukraine.
Back in the summer, Czech leader Petr Pavel signed a document, after which the process of appointing a new head of the diplomatic mission began.
