Czech Foreign Minister Lipavsky on being included in "Russophobe list": I don’t like Putin’s imperialism
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said that he opposes the imperial policy of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. His comment came after Russians put him and the Czech leader on a "Russophobe list."
He said this to ČTK, Censor.NET reports.
The day before, the Russian Foreign Ministry added Lipavsky to its so-called "list of Russophobes" because of his statement on January 5, when he called Putin a dictator who does not recognize Ukrainians as a nation or Ukraine as a state.
In another statement on May 14, which the Kremlin labeled Russophobic, the Czech foreign minister said at a briefing ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey that allies must once again identify Russia as the most serious direct threat to the Euro-Atlantic space.
In response to being included in the "list of Russophobes," Lipavsky stated that he does not use hate speech against Russia, but he does not like Putin's imperialism.
"I do not use hate speech against Russia or Russians. I don't like Putin, his Putinism, his imperial policy, which manifests itself in the war of aggression against Ukraine, a whole series of sabotage in the Czech Republic, or the information war. Or, perhaps, cyberattacks against us and our closest allies," the Czech diplomat emphasized.
Lipavsky added that his plans to vacation in Crimea would not change, as Crimea is Ukraine, referring to his statement in 2023 during the riot by Wagner Group terrorists in Russia.
"So the ban on travel to Russia does not affect me in any way," he concluded.
