Prague, April 1 (CTK) – Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek insists on the withdrawal of ambassador Karel Boruvka from Switzerland because of his wife Alena’s behaviour since she, too, is a member of the diplomatic corps and cannot attack the ministry’s employees, he tweeted Saturday.
Boruvka disagrees with his superiors’ procedure and he said previously his wife is a private person.
Boruvka, ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, must return from Bern to the Czech Republic by the end of April though his regular four-year term only expires in summer 2018.
Boruvka told the daily Lidove noviny (LN) that he has been recalled without any reasons having been stated to him and transferred to the Foreign Ministry after Zaorlek blamed him repeatedly that he is unable to keep his wife’s communication on social networks under control.
Zaoralek indirectly confirmed the reason for Boruvka’s withdrawal Saturday.
“It is utterly inadmissible that someone in a similar position should be attacking in mails, SMS messages or on social networks for a long time not only the ministry’s employees, but also many other persons in the public space – journalists, officials,” Zaoralek tweeted.
He wrote that the attacked persons asked him to deal with the situation.
“During the past year, I met ambassador Boruvka several times and tried to explain to him that the situation is serious and that it is necessary that particularly he himself should start doing something about it. However, nothing has happened and it continued,” Zaoralek wrote.
He wrote that an ambassador’s wife is not an entirely private person. She, too, represents the Czech Republic and is practically part of the diplomatic corps because the ambassador gets a financial bonus for her.
“We must see to it how those who represent the Czech Republic behave,” he wrote.
“It is essential that the embassy of the Czech Republic in Switzerland function properly for our ministry as well as the citizens of the Czech Republic. And this will be secured,” Zaorlaek wrote in his last out of seven tweets.
Michaela Lagronova, spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, said Boruvka has been recalled from Switzerland for an unspecified time. He can only be dismissed by the president. According to LN’s unofficial information this alternative is already being discussed.
Boruvka, who was deputy foreign minister in the past, says it is mainly his wife who is responsible for her tweets.
“It is a personal right of my wife who is not an employee of the ministry and who is a private person,” he told LN.
He said he himself has not been blamed for any personal failure.
Boruvka and his wife Alena are members of the senior government Social Democratic Party (CSSD) like Zaoralek. Boruvkova unsuccessfully ran for a CSSD deputy chairperson in the past.
She left Czech diplomacy last May. She has repeatedly commented on Boruvka’s withdrawal in the past hours. She wrote among others that she wishes Zaoralek to keep his nerve in a lawsuit.
ms/dr
