Prague, May 7 (CTK) – The Novichok nerve agent has never been produced, developed or stored in the Czech Republic, civilian counter-intelligence BIS chief Michal Koudelka and VZ military intelligence chief Jan Beroun told Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Monday.
Last week, President Milos Zeman said Novichok was produced in a small quantity in the country. The Government Office said on Monday Zeman’s statement seemed to be a misunderstanding caused by a different interpretation of the words “production” and “testing.”
Babis met Koudelka and Beroun over Zeman’s statement.
Babis told Czech Television (CT) that the misunderstanding might have been caused by Czech Military Research Institute head Bohuslav Safar by his statement made in mid-March. “The institute director’s statement was public and unfortunate. This caused the misunderstanding,” he said.
Babis will talk to Zeman about the issue on Tuesday when they will meet within the events held on Victory Day. As the misunderstanding had a technical basis, parliament should not deal with it, Babis said.
Within a defence programme launched in 2017, a Czech military institute used microscopic amount of the A230 substance for testing. The A230 substance is different from the A234 substance, which was used in the poisoning of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Britain in March, government spokeswoman Barbora Peterova said in a written statement.
The micro-synthesis of A-230 was carried out by the Czech Military Research Institute, but the agent was not isolated and the product was destroyed immediately after the testing. This micro-synthesis is considered neither production nor development by the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, Peterova said.
Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said the statements by Zeman and Babis are not in conflict.
“The Russian accusation of the Czech Republic of being involved in the attempt to poison Skripal is false,” Ovcacek said, adding that all agree on this.
“The Czech Republic has an excellent chemical military unit of which we are proud. It is thus logical that we deal with various substances that are destroyed afterwards in laboratories. This concerns microscopic amounts,” he said.
In reaction to Zeman’s words last week, the Czech defence and foreign ministries said microscopic amounts of substances like Novichok were synthesised under a strict safety regime and they could not leak from the military labs.
Russian political representatives welcomed Zeman’s statement and said it disproved the British claim that Russia is behind the attack on Skripal.
Czech right-wing opposition parties said Zeman assisted Russian propaganda, while the Communists (KSCM) and the anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) supported the president.
Britain and its allies suspect Russia of being behind the attack and most of them, including the Czech Republic, expelled Russian diplomats in retaliation.
Zeman is known to have good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He repeatedly challenged the sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow previously said it had nothing to do with the case and pointed to other countries as possible sources Novichok, including the Czech Republic.
The Government Office said the Czech military research institute used the terms “production” and “testing” in different meanings, which caused the misunderstanding with Zeman.
