The Czech government has recalled its ambassador to Russia, Vitezslav Pivonka, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky (Pirates) said yesterday on TV Nova’s discussion programme Five Minutes To Twelve.
The Foreign Ministry told CTK that Pivonka would leave his post at the end of May. Lipavsky had earlier personally thanked Pivonka for his work in Moscow, the Ministry added.
“We are working intensively to find a new ambassador,” Lipavsky told Nova. “The current ambassador has already been recalled. I believe that a new ambassador of the Czech Republic will appear one day.” He did not want to comment further on the timeframe for naming Pivonka’s successor or who it might be, which is customary procedure until the selection process is completed.
Earlier media speculation suggested that Daniel Kostoval, a diplomat and former deputy at the Defence Ministry, could serve in Moscow.
Senior elected officials have been debating for some time whether to keep an ambassador in Moscow given the current Russian military aggression towards Ukraine. President Petr Pavel said in late March that it was a matter between the Foreign Ministry, the government and the Presidential Office.
“I have long seen the importance of having ambassadorial-level representation in Russia as well. The question is whether this is the right time for it,” the president said. But given the length of the process, it might be a good idea to work on preparations now, he said. “And when the right situation arises, to implement it,” he added.
Lidovky.cz has reported that Kostoval could take up the diplomatic post in Moscow.
Pivonka served in Russia from 2018, but he has been in Prague since 2022, and the Czech Republic is represented in Moscow by lower-level diplomats.
The Czech Republic has had strained diplomatic relations with Russia since 2021 after Czech intelligence services and investigators found that Russian intelligence agents were involved in the 2014 explosions at ammunition depots in Vrbetice, in the Zlin Region. The number of Russian diplomats in the Czech Republic has continued to decline following the Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Six diplomats were working at the Russian embassy in Prague last year.
Lipavsky also told Nova that the Czech representative would not attend Tuesday’s inauguration of Vladimir Putin, who will start his new presidential term. “I don’t think our current relations are appropriate for our current charge d’affaires (Jan) Ondrejka to attend such a ceremony,” the minister said.
