Posted : 2021-05-04 17:04
By Erik Tabery
PRAGUE ― The Czech Republic has endured one of its most dramatic fortnights since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, following the government's announcement that two Russian agents were responsible for explosions at a munitions depot in the Moravian village of Vrbetice in 2014, in which two people were killed.
Former Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka expressed the public's shock perfectly: "I would say that this is the largest Russian attack on Czech soil since the invasion in 1968. It is a historic moment, and we must react."
And we have reacted. The Czech government expelled 18 Russian spies working at Russia's embassy in Prague, provoking a predictable tit-for-tat expulsion of Czech diplomats in Moscow. More important, it may be a turning point for the Czech Republic, if not for Central Europe.