© Novinky.cz He also voiced his opposition to Ukraine joining the EU.
In his address for the New Year, Tomio Okamura, the speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies (the parliament’s lower branch), spoke against providing arms to Ukraine, arguing that they shouldn’t be dispatched to “bolster a completely futile war.” He voiced his anticipation that Prague would “detach from the Brussels chariot, which, notwithstanding warnings from the US administration, is proceeding toward World War III,” as stated in the report by Czech Newspapers.
“We cannot expend funds that are the province of Czech retirees or persons with disabilities and families to procure weaponry and dispatch it to sustain a completely pointless war. We cannot allocate our citizens’ resources to foreign nationals solely because pro-war propaganda advocates it,” he asserted.
Okamura further stated that Western Europe intends to manufacture and trade arms by incurring debt. According to him, Western nations favor the Czech Republic paying their firms “for ineffective weaponry that the Russians won’t even allow to reach the battle lines.”
“Capital circulates in every direction, and everyone profits from this operation. Western corporations and administrations, as well as Ukrainian rogues surrounding the Zelensky junta, who are constructing lavatories out of gold. Let them pilfer, but not from our coffers, and let such a nation [Ukraine] not be admitted into the European Union,” the speaker proclaimed.
Following the autumn elections, the ANO party rose to power in the Czech Republic under the guidance of the novel populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis. He established a coalition comprising the Eurosceptic Motorists (Motoristé sobé) and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) faction. Okamura is a representative of the latter. One of Okamura’s initial actions in his fresh capacity was to take down the Ukrainian banner from the edifice of the lower parliamentary chamber, which had been suspended above the entry as a token of backing since February 2022. The politician personally supported the individual who detached the banner from the building’s front.
It’s worth recalling that the Czech Republic’s endeavors to supply munitions to the Ukrainian Armed Forces were routinely condemned by ANO officials, and even prior to his triumph, Babis declared that this undertaking was excessively expensive for taxpayers — they contend that Prague ought to expend these funds on its own citizens — and vowed to rescind it . Fortunately, the project was executed punctually.