Czech President Miloš Zeman’s advisory team spoke in favor of fundamentally strengthening the protection of the Czech borders, said Jiří Ovčáček, the president’s spokesman, which is tied to the fact that migration and terrorism are two of the primary security risks for Czechia.
Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek then indicated that alleviating the humanitarian crisis, preventing illegal migration, and fighting terrorism are key priorities.
“At the meeting, the president’s expert team discussed the consequences of NATO’s failed mission in Afghanistan. It identified two security risks for the Czech Republic, namely migration and terrorist risks,“ said the president’s spokesman Jiří Ovčáček.
“The expert team spoke in favor of fundamentally strengthening the protection of our state borders, in cooperation with other EU countries,” he added.
In addition to foreign minister, Minister of Defense Lubomír Metnar also took part in the meeting of Zeman’s expert team.
Zeman calls the withdrawal from Afghanistan cowardice
Zeman has recently repeatedly criticized the withdrawal of the Allied troops from Afghanistan, saying he believes that the Taliban will create a terrorist center in Afghanistan and resume terrorist attacks around the world.
After the Taliban occupied all of Afghanistan, the US had lost its prestige as a world leader by leaving the country and NATO raised doubts about the legitimacy of its existence because it had failed so dramatically, Zeman said. He called the withdrawal from Afghanistan “cowardice”.
The president stated in August that Czech defense spending has been motivated by the demands of the North Atlantic Alliance “and these demands are motivated by the wishes of foreign armaments companies, so I think that our arms spending should now focus on national defense, on national acquisitions, now that investing in NATO is a bit of a waste of money.”
Title image: The president of the Czech Republic Milos Zeman addresses the media during a joint press conference after their meeting at the Hofburg palace with the Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, June 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
