A celebration of the 101st anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia would usually pass unnoticed in Ukraine.
But thanks to Milos Zeman, the Czech Republic’s president, the celebration became an international political scandal after the Czech leader appeared to recognize Russia’s illegal 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
Zeman invited representatives of Kyrym birligi (“Crimean Unity”), a pro-Kremlin organization of Crimean Tatars, to take part in the celebration at Prague Castle, his official residence, the DeníkN news site reported on Oct. 30.
The small organization is an outlier among Crimean Tatars, who broadly oppose the annexation of Crimea, and serves a propagandistic role for the Kremlin. And because many Tatars were forced to leave their homeland after 2014, the group’s very position is offensive to many.
After the ceremony, members of Kyrym birligi wrote on Facebook that President Zeman had recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea as legitimate, Radio Prague reported on Oct.31.
“Czech President Milos Zeman is a European politician. He recognized Crimea as part of Russia,” the Simferopol-based group wrote on its Facebook page. The post was later edited to state that Zeman “agrees with the democratic choice of Crimean citizens.”
The Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic protested Zeman’s actions on Oct. 30.
“Flirting with the invaders looks especially cynical at a time when the Crimean Tatars’ real representative body, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, continues to be banned in occupied Crimea and hundreds of Crimean Tatars have been persecuted, repressed, and arrested,” it said in the statement.
Russia banned the Mejlis representative body in 2016.
According to Crimean Tatar leader and current Ukrainian lawmaker Mustafa Dzhemilev, this is not the first time that Zeman has expressed a pro-Russian position, but it has absolutely nothing with the official position of the Czech government, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Oct. 31.
“He is a pro-Russian politician. In general, the Czech Republic’s government and representatives in international organizations oppose the occupation of Crimea and support sanctions against the aggressor state,” Dzhemilev said.
“But the president is like a ‘white crow.’ He makes statements and takes actions pleasing to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. It’s very sad,” he added.
Later, on Oct. 31, Zeman’s press secretary, Jiri Ovcacek, denied that the 75-year-old leader had recognized the Crimean annexation.
“The position of the president of the Czech Republic remains unchanged: The annexation of Crimea was and is illegal,” he said.
