In the Czech Republic, teacher and mayor of the village of Semnevice Antonín Kolarž wrote a letter apologizing to Ukraine for anti-Ukrainian statements by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura.
This is reported by the Czech media Novinky.
Kolárz said that he initially planned to address the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Vasyl Zvarych privately, but realized that "the voice of one person in the public space is easily lost", so he decided to make the appeal public. It was published on January 2.
In the letter, Kolarz emphasizes that statements that justify human rights violations and question solidarity with a country under attack do not reflect the position of a significant part of Czech society.
According to him, although Tomio Okamura represents a minority, his public position makes this voice disproportionately loud. The author of the letter emphasized that there are many people in the Czech Republic who feel respect, solidarity, and gratitude for Ukraine and its citizens.
He also recalled Russiaʼs war crimes — mass killings in Bucha, Irpen and Izyum, the siege of Mariupol, the attack on the train station in Kramatorsk and the killing of prisoners in Olenivka. Kolář stressed that these events are documented facts confirmed by international investigators.
In his New Yearʼs address, Tomio Okamura opposed financing military aid to Ukraine from the Czech budget, called the war against Russia pointless, and called President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs entourage a junta, České noviny reported.
Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Zvarych called these statements offensive and inciting hatred, and called on the Czech authorities and society to give them an appropriate assessment. In response, Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka stated that Czech politics is an internal matter of the country.
- Leaders of opposition parties in the Czech Parliament agreed on January 2 to initiate a vote on the dismissal of Tomio Okamura from his position, České noviny reported.
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