Czech Republic recalls its ambassador to Russia

The Czech Republic is recalling Vitezslav Pivonka, who has been in Prague since 2022, from the post of ambassador to Russia.

This was reported by the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry, Jan Lipavsky, in a comment to the ČTK agency, Rubryka writes.

Earlier, Lipavsky announced the withdrawal of Pivonka on the Nova TV channel, talking about the refusal to attend the so-called inauguration of Vladimir Putin in Moscow on May 7.

"We are intensively working on a new ambassador. The current ambassador has already been recalled. I believe that a new ambassador of the Czech Republic will appear someday," he said, refusing to comment on the terms of Pivonka's successor's appointment or their name.

The head of the Czech Foreign Ministry clarified to ČTK that the Czech ambassador to Russia will resign at the end of May.

Earlier, the mass media assumed that Daniel Kostoval, a diplomat and former deputy minister of defense, could head the Czech embassy in Moscow.

Vitezslav Pivonka has been the Czech ambassador to Russia since 2018. In 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he left for Prague, retaining the position of ambassador. His deputies, including Jan Ondrejka, headed the representative office in Moscow all this time.

It is worth noting that the Czech authorities have been debating for some time whether to have an ambassador in Moscow, given the current Russian military aggression in Ukraine.