Czech Speaker Okamura Opposes Ukraine's EU and NATO Membership

PRAGUE, July 22. /TASS/. Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) of the Czech Parliament, leader of the SPD party (Freedom and Direct Democracy), which is part of the republic's government coalition, Tomio Okamura, has spoken out against the admission of Ukraine to the European Union and NATO, he wrote on Facebook (banned in Russia as extremist).

"Even the Poles are already tired of the fact that the Ukrainian state officially declares its connection with collaborators who killed Czechs, Poles and Jews. When the Poles spoke out against this, the Ukrainians began to insult them rudely. We refuse to finance Ukraine, which supports collaborators with the Nazis," the speaker wrote. "We do not want such a state to join the EU and NATO! When someone speaks out against the fact that the Ukrainian president officially supports the Ukrainian thugs who committed genocide, the Ukrainians also take offense."

Okamura expressed surprise at the lack of reaction to this from Czech President Petr Pavel. "Why does he not speak out about the fact that his friends from Ukraine support murderers who also killed Czechs?" the speaker wrote.

Ukraine has been a candidate for EU membership since the summer of 2022. The issue of further enlargement of the European Union is currently being considered with caution, as member states fear a split in voting on major political issues, which requires unanimity. This applies not only to Ukraine, but also to other candidates for EU membership.

A new round of escalation between Warsaw and Kiev came after Vladimir Zelensky named one of the units of the Ukrainian army "heroes of the UPA" (Ukrainian Insurgent Army, banned in Russia as extremist) on May 26. In response, Polish President Karol Nawrocki stripped Zelensky of the republic's highest state award, the Order of the White Eagle.

Okamura recalled that the so-called Ukrainian Insurgent Army "is responsible for the mass killings on the territory of Ukraine during the Second World War of up to one hundred thousand Poles, Jews, Czechs and Ukrainians."

Czech media, in turn, recalled that after the deterioration of relations between Ukraine and Poland, the foreign ministers of these countries held a meeting, following which they agreed to continue developing partnership and deepen bilateral dialogue.