Czech Foreign Minister reacts to inclusion in the list of "Russophobes"

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, after appearing on the list of "Russophobes," said that he opposes the imperial policy of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and does not use hate speech against Russia. The head of Czech diplomacy said this in a commentary to ČTK.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the aggressor country included Lipavsky in the so-called "Russophobes" list because of his statement of January 5, when he called Putin a dictator who does not recognize Ukrainians as a nation, but Ukraine as a state.

In another statement on May 14, which the occupiers consider Russophobic, the Czech Foreign Minister, at a briefing before an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Turkey, said that the allies should once again identify Russia as the most serious direct threat to the Euro-Atlantic space.

In response to his inclusion in the list of "Russophobes," the minister said that he does not use hate speech against Russia, but is concerned about Putin's imperial policy.

"I do not use hate speech against Russia or Russians. I am concerned about Putin, his Putinism, his imperial policy, which is manifested in the war of aggression against Ukraine, a whole series of sabotage in the Czech Republic or information warfare. Or perhaps cyberattacks against us and our closest allies," Lipavsky said.

The head of diplomacy added that his plans for a vacation in Crimea will not change, because Crimea is Ukraine, referring to his statement in 2023 during the Wagner terrorist riot in Russia.

"So the ban on traveling to Russia does not concern me in any way," Lipavsky emphasized.

• Last week, the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry posted a section titled "Examples of the use of hate speech against Russia and Russophobic statements by politicians and public figures of foreign countries." It contains statements by Ukrainian and Western politicians that the aggressor state considers Russophobic.
• On July 30, it was reported that the Italian Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to challenge the inclusion of the country's president and other Italian officials in the list of "foreign Russophobes".