Who in Czechia is attacking relations with Ukraine and will this affect Prague's course?
The year 2026 began with a sharp escalation in relations with traditionally friendly Czechia.
The current crisis was sparked by the speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura – a far-right politician and leader of the SPD party. In his New Year’s address, he voiced a number of openly anti-Ukrainian statements, which were later echoed by his party colleagues.
At the same time, however, the scandal showed that for a significant number of Czechs such statements are absolutely unacceptable. In particular, more than 50,000 Czech citizens signed a letter apologising for Okamura’s anti-Ukrainian remarks.
Read more about what lies behind the statements of the Czech far-right politician and whether the country’s foreign policy course will change in the article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: From "Zelenskyy junta" to military support: how Ukraine managed to save relations with Czechia.
"We cannot use money that belongs to Czech pensioners, people with disabilities or families with children to buy weapons and send them abroad to sustain an absolutely senseless war… Money is flowing in all directions, and everyone is getting something out of this business – Western companies and governments, as well as Ukrainian thieves around the Zelenskyy junta, who build toilets out of gold," said newly elected speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament Tomio Okamura in his New Year’s address.
This was not Okamura’s first anti-Ukrainian move in his new position. It is worth recalling that his very first decision was to remove the Ukrainian flag from the parliament building – a step that produced the opposite effect, as all opposition parties displayed Ukrainian flags in the windows of their offices.
The harsh anti-Ukrainian statements by Okamura and members of his party are, above all, an element of an intense struggle for leadership in the far-right (and fortunately very small) political segment.
However, there is also a second reason: the current weakness of coalition leader and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. This weakness is considered temporary, but for now it has given Okamura a certain "window of opportunity."
In the coming months, parliament is expected to receive a request from prosecutors to strip Babiš of parliamentary immunity in the long-running "Stork’s Nest" criminal case.
As a result, Babiš needs that request not to gain support in parliament.
Accordingly, he has little choice but to refrain from commenting on Okamura’s provocations and to join the criticism of the Ukrainian ambassador, who allegedly overstepped his mandate in a public statement.
However, Okamura’s remarks have "awakened" Czech society. As a result, Babiš’s current position has placed him in an extremely uncomfortable situation.
President Petr Pavel wants to urgently discuss Czechia’s foreign policy course. This meeting is already known to be scheduled for 26 January. The parliamentary opposition wants to put Okamura’s dismissal to a vote.
At the same time, tensions are growing within Andrej Babiš’s ruling ANO party, as the majority of the party’s voters support Ukraine. Moreover, they want Czechia to remain within the European mainstream rather than move into opposition to Brussels.
In order to defuse the far right’s antics, the new Czech prime minister had to announce the continuation of the "ammunition initiative" for Ukraine.
Thus, despite the change of government, Czechia is becoming neither a "second Hungary" nor a "second Slovakia."
Tomio Okamura’s anti-Ukrainian demarche also led to another unexpected outcome.
Under the pressure of strong public reaction, the position of the "Motorists for Themselves" party, the third member of the ruling coalition, has become significantly more pro-Ukrainian.