Czech Republic appoints ambassador to Russia after over 2 years hiatus

By Ebad Ahmed

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AA) – The Czech Republic appointed its ambassador to Russia on Wednesday, bringing an end to a diplomatic stalemate that had lasted over two years.

Daniel Kostaval, a veteran diplomat and former deputy defense minister, has been appointed for the diplomatic post and is expected to take up his responsibilities in early 2025, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky said in a statement.

“I wish the ambassador much strength in this challenging mission to advance Czech interests,” Lipavsky said, noting that the country's key strategic allies, the UK, France, Germany, Poland, and US, all have ambassadors in Russia.

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Prague deteriorated in 2021 when the Czech Republic accused Russia of being responsible for a series of explosions at Czech munition warehouses in Vrbetice in 2014.

In response, both countries reduced the number of diplomatic staff stationed at their respective embassies.

Earlier, President Petr Pavel said it is in Czech interest to have diplomatic representation in Moscow at the ambassador level in the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Tensions between the Czech Republic and Russia have intensified in recent years, owing primarily to an espionage scandal and Russia’s armed conflict with Ukraine, which began in February 2022.

Czechia’s former ambassador to Russia, Vitezslav Pivonka, who had been operating from Prague since 2022, was officially recalled in May of this year, further straining diplomatic relations.

The decision to send an ambassador to Moscow came a day after President Pavel warned that Russia's aggression in Ukraine has exacerbated global human rights violations by emboldening regimes that violate international norms.

“Russian aggression against Ukraine has spurred increased human rights violations in other countries and inspired those who disregard international norms,” Pavel told the annual Forum 2000 conference in Prague, according to Radio Prague International.

He cited countries like North Korea, Iran, Niger, and Venezuela as examples of states that have aligned diplomatically with Moscow in response to its actions in Ukraine.