Czech President Denies Certainty of Russian Involvement in Arms Depot Blast

People protest against Czech President Miloš Zeman in Prague in 2018 (Wikimedia). 

Czech President Miloš Zeman made his first public remarks on April 25 regarding a recent Czech intelligence finding that Russian operatives had caused a 2014 arms depot explosion. “We are working with two investigative theories,” he stated in the pre-recorded speech broadcasted via television. “The first, original one, that there was an explosion resulting from inexpert handling of explosives, and the second that it was an operation of a foreign intelligence service… I take both of these theories seriously and I wish for them to be thoroughly investigated,” he continued.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced on April 17 that the findings from the Czech Security Information Service provided “unequivocal evidence” suggesting “reasonable suspicion regarding a role of members of Russian military intelligence GRU's unit 29155 in the explosion of the munition depot in Vrbetice in 2014.” 

The explosion killed two Czech workers, but findings as to the cause have revealed little until now. The news has sparked outrage with the Czech public. The two accused agents, from unit 29155, also have ties to several attacks on NATO allies, including the 2018 poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter using the nerve agent Novichok in England. 

Zeman said that “neither proof nor evidence” of these agents having involvement in the arms depot explosion currently exists. His power as head of state remains ceremonial, though he often faces criticism for pro-Russian leanings, for instance, his supporting Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines and a Russian-built nuclear power station in the Republic.

Opposition figure Pavel Fischer blasted Zeman’s comment as damaging to the Czech Republic and spreading disinformation: “Zeman now openly stands on the side of Russia and has become its advocate,” he said in a Facebook post.

Czech Prime Minister Babis has indicated that he believes that the attack targeted Bulgarian arms dealer EMCO, whose goods the depot had stored. The owner of EMCO, Emilian Gevrev, and his son were poisoned in 2015 after the arms depot explosion through a substance that applied to their car door. Gevrev pointed to competition in the arms industry as a possible motivation for the attack.

As a result of these findings, Czechia expelled 18 Russian diplomats from the Russian embassy in Prague, leading to a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions which have most recently seen 63 more Russian staff told to leave the embassy.

The Czech government also asked for other EU and NATO governments to do the same as a show of support: “We are calling for collective action by EU and NATO countries aimed at solidarity expulsions,” declared Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek.

Some fellow EU members answered this call, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania released a statement saying that it had expelled the officials because they “had carried out activities incompatible with their diplomatic status.” 

The EU and NATO also released statements supporting the Czech Republic.