Czech foreign minister warns Putin’s aggression threatens Europe’s stability

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó at a press conference in Budapest, issued a stark warning about the war in Ukraine and its implications on Europe's future.

Apr 29, 2024 - 06:57

Czech foreign minister warns Putin’s aggression threatens Europe’s stability

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jan Lipavský has stated that it is very naive to believe that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will stop at Ukraine in his imperial ambitions. Therefore, the EU countries should continue supporting Ukraine as the country fights against Russian occupiers not only for itself but for all the European states and their future, according to UkrInform.

Jan Lipavský made the statement last week in the presence of his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó at a press conference in Budapest, where the Czech minister came with an official visit.

According to the Hungarian independent outlet Telex, Lipavský stated that Russian imperialism is the greatest threat to Europe, so it is crucial to unite around assistance to Ukraine to protect it.

Last year, Szijjártó stated that his country would never send weapons to Ukraine. He also said that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Putin, seeking possibilities for peace negotiations with Ukraine. After months of heavy fighting and a large number of air assaults on Ukraine’s infrastructure and residential buildings with newly developed missiles like Zircon and Kh-69, it’s evident that the initiative has failed.

Moscow’s objective is not only to destroy Ukraine and erase its identity, but its ambitions extend beyond the country, so “it is naive to think that if Russia were to win in Ukraine, its tanks would stop at our borders.”

“It’s about undermining our part of Europe. It wants to steal the West back into its world of tyranny and disorder,” the Czech minister stated.

Ukraine’s defeat will supply Russia with new resources and open the door to other wars in Central and Eastern Europe. The fate of Europe is being decided today, said Lipavský.

“If we allow Russia to destroy Ukraine, if its aggression goes unpunished, other predators around the world will follow this example,” he suggested.

He reminded that today, the same tanks are killing people in Ukraine, which the parents and grandparents of the same generation saw on the streets of Budapest and Prague.

“The situation is changing while Russia’s imperial cruelty continues. Like in 1956, 1968, or 1981, Russian rulers believe they are the only ones who decide the fate of nations within their reach.
As before, Moscow knows only one way to deal with those who resist it – to crush them,” claimed Lipavský.

He noted that Russian imperial ambitions know no bounds unless they are constrained. He recalled the words of former Czech Republic President Václav Havel, “The problem with Russia for many centuries has been that it doesn’t know exactly where it begins and where it ends.” If allowed, Russia would unhesitatingly encroach upon the former “Eastern Bloc” territories.

After two years of Russian aggression, the war in Ukraine has evolved into a war of attrition.

“It is a critical moment! We must prioritize Ukraine’s defensive needs and intensify pressure on Russia and its allies through sanctions. We must persist in proactive and judicious multilateral diplomacy,” he said.

His claims came as Hungary is preparing to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, during which time the country needed to find ways to counter Russian aggression against the West.

Earlier, the Czech government launched an initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine. Prague claimed to have found 800 thousand pieces of ammo, which later rose to over a million, with 500 thousand already being acquired.