Prague, Jan 19 (CTK) – The Czech state is ready to help the Czech mother, whose nine-month-old girl has been taken away from her by the Norwegian child welfare service Barnevernet, but she must say whether she wants assistance from Czech authorities or not, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told journalists yesterday.
The Czech Office for International Legal Protection of Children in Brno asked the mother whether she wanted the Czech Republic to intervene, he added.
Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said the Czech Republic is one of the few countries that are very active towards Norway and it uses all diplomatic channels available.
Czech authorities have been calling on Norway to reconsider the case of a Czech woman living in Norway, Eva Michalakova, whose two sons were taken away from her in 2011 over suspected child abuse. Czech diplomats as well as the prime minister and the president tried to exert pressure on Norway in this case. Michalakova recently appealed the decision to strip her of parental rights to both boys and place one of the boys in adoption.
Labour and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksova (CSSD) said on Monday that the mother rejected the assistance.
“We have offered the mother to negotiate with Barnevernet on her behalf or together with her, but she has not accepted our offer. Without the parent wishing for the state to intervene, we can really do only minimum,” Marksova said.
She said the mother has not told the ministry why she has declined Prague’s help.
Labour Ministry spokesman Petr Haban told CTK previously that the mother addressed the Czech Office for International Legal Protection of Children last year, but that she has not reacted to the offered assistance since late November.
Czech MP Jitka Chalankova (opposition TOP 09) said the mother of course wants the Czech state to help her family. The mother has not rejected help, but she fears that media interest may harm her and her husband in the forthcoming proceedings in Norway, Chalankova said.
Chalankova represents the mother in contacts with the Czech side.
The mother would release further information after the proceedings, Chalankova said.
The baby girl suffers from a congenital defect and is waiting for a kidney transplant. Barnevernet took her away from her parents, a Czech mother and a Norwegian father, several weeks ago. The parents are allowed to see her twice a week for an hour.
Barnevernet wants to move the baby to a hospital that would be closer to the place where the foster parents live.
The mother told the Czech daily Lidove noviny (LN) that Barnevernet explained the step saying that the parents’ contact with the daughter had not been developed enough and their relation to her was bad.
Lawyer Pavel Hasenkopf, from the petition committee that supports Michalakova and parents in similar situations, said the nine-month-old baby was taken from her parents around November 12. The mother contacted the Czech legal protection office shortly afterwards and around November 20 Barnevernet confirmed the decision to take the baby from the parents. The reaction from the Czech office arrived only ten days later, but the family had to act sooner, Hasenkopf said.
Our Child foundation director and senator (government ANO) Zuzana Baudysova said the government and the lawmakers should act more resolutely in similar cases.
MP Radka Maxova (ANO) said it was impossible to say whether the government is doing enough without knowing the details of the cases.
The Norwegian side does not comment on the cases of children taken from parents in order to respect the privacy of the children. When commenting on the Michalakova case, the Norwegian Embassy in Prague said it has no access to the information on the case.
Some Czech experts in child protection said a case cannot be assessed well if information from only one side to the dispute are available.
