The Crisis in Russian-Czech Relations and its Possible Consequences

Abstract

The article analyzes the possible reasons of the deepest political crisis in relations between the Czech Republic and Russia during еру last 50 years, which led to the unprecedented parade of mutual expulsion of diplomatic staff and exchange of unfriendly statements and actions. Among the probable reasons for the incident, the author names the internal political situation in the Czech Republic, when the parties are looking for all possible ways to increase their controversial political rating on the eve of parliamentary elections; the announced tender for the expansion of the Dukovany nuclear power plant, where Russia could compete with the United States, France and South Korea; a new round of increasing geopolitical influence in the region, associated with the planned overcoming of the consequences of the pandemic. The author notes the inadequacy of the actions of both sides in this conflict: the fundamental lack of proof of Russia's guilt in the explosions that occurred 7 years ago in the territory of armories in the Czech Republic; the excessively hasty and harsh reaction of Russia, which paralyzed the activities of the Czech Embassy in Moscow and could postpone for a long time the emergence of any positive agenda in the Czech-Russian relations in any sphere. According to the author, this situation does not benefit neither Russia nor the Czech Republic, and needs to look for all possible channels to overcome the consequences of populist and unjustified political actions.

Keywords

• czech republic
• russia
• central europe
• political crisis
• election campaign
• tender in dukovany