Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said that officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged him to pursue an anti-Russian policy and to ask Kazakhstan to limit its ties with Moscow and Beijing.
“I was handed a memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which they wrote that I should urge Kazakhstan to limit its relations with Russia and China. Amazing“, the Czech Prime Minister said on Nova television.
When asked who had prepared the document, Babis replied that it was “some officials“. He then suggested that it could have been former Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Babiš also criticized the foreign policy of the previous government, claiming that it had harmed the country's interests. He claimed that relations with world powers, including China, were at their worst ever, which was negatively affecting Czech companies.
The Czech prime minister's statement came shortly after his visit to Astana on April 28-29, where economic cooperation and energy supplies were the topics of conversation. Babis met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.
The Czech delegation expressed interest in long-term contracts for the supply of Kazakh oil and uranium, as well as in the purchase of 12 L-39NG combat training aircraft manufactured by Aero Vodochody. Babis called Kazakhstan an "important strategic partner," stressing the need to expand trade and economic cooperation.
According to the Czech government's website, trade between the two countries will reach 35 billion Czech crowns in 2025. Nearly 200 companies with Czech capital operate in Kazakhstan, including Skoda, Omnipol, Tatra and Excalibur Army.