Prague, March 20 (CTK) – Jaroslav Holik, Czech MP from the minor opposition Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, who reportedly attended a celebration of the 3rd anniversary of the Russian occupation of Crimea, was banned from entering Ukraine for five years on Monday.
Holik’s participation in the celebration was reported by the Ukrainian embassy in the Czech Republic on Monday.
Besides Holik, Ukrainian security forces also banned four Serbian politicians from entering Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian embassy condemned Holik’s participation in the event and called on Czech parliament to take a position on it.
Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamacek texted to CTK on Monday that Holik was in Crimea privately.
“I do not know anything about Mr Holik’s trip. By no means was he sent there by the Chamber of Deputies,” Hamacek wrote.
The embassy in Prague wrote that Holik was one of “a handful of foreign politicians with a low threshold of political hygiene” who took part in the celebration.
By attending the celebration in Crimea, Holik breached Ukrainian laws, to which Ukrainian bodies will react, the embassy wrote in a press release.
The embassy wrote that Holik’s stay was “well documented by the Russian media.”
CTK has not yet been able to contact Holik to confirm his participation in the event.
The Czech government, like the whole EU, does not recognise the occupation of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula, by Russia three years ago.
The Czech Foreign Ministry tweeted during the weekend that Prague, together with the people of Ukraine, have continued to reject the Russian annexation of Crimea for three years.
The Ukrainian embassy praised Prague’s position and said Holik acted at variance with it.
The Czech Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Irena Valentova told CTK on Monday that Ukraine has not contacted the ministry over the Holik case.
She said lawmakers are not obliged to report their trips to the ministry. “It is an affair of theirs and of the Chamber of Deputies,” Valentova said and added that the Czech government’s position on the occupation of Crimea remains unchanged.
