Why the Czech Republic was friends with Russia during Zeman's presidency

This was stated by Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky in the RBC-Ukraine article "From Zeman to Pavel. How the Czech Republic Became One of Ukraine's Staunchest Allies in Europe".

According to Lipavsky, the Czech Republic has most likely long been considered a Moscow-friendly country with pro-Russian sentiments because of its "sympathy for Russian films and literature."

"Perhaps the fact that we used to have a president who admired dictators contributed to this, but those days are long gone. The Czechs have direct experience of Russian tanks on our streets, and hardly anyone sympathizes with Russian war crimes in Ukraine, which we consider crimes against us," he added.

Thus, until March 2023, the Czech Republic's president was Milos Zeman, who had warm relations with Russia and was repeatedly noted for his anti-Ukrainian statements after the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014.

In particular, he called the war in Donbas a "civil war," called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia, and offered to "pay" Ukraine for Crimea and Donbas with oil and gas.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 06/05/2024