Former Czech President Miloš Zeman called Russia an aggressor that should pay for its aggression in an interview with the news website TN.cz on Sunday. He stated this in response to the question of whether frozen Russian assets should be used for Ukraine, TASR reports, according to a report from the iDnes.cz portal.
- Miloš Zeman called Russia an aggressor and supported Ukraine.
- Zeman called for concrete aid to Ukraine as ammunition.
- He warned of the threat of Russian aggression against the Baltic states.
- He emphasized the importance of effectively arming Europe without corruption.
- He expressed the desire for a democratic and European Russia.
“If we say that Ukraine needs to be helped, then we should help it not only with words, but with actions. Ammunition is a damn strong act,” said the former president of the Czech Republic Zeman about the Czech ammunition initiative.
A threat to the Baltic states
According to him, Russia will attack whoever is relatively weak and where it has hope of winning; it could attack, for example, the Baltic states, where there is a strong Russian minority. “Russia could use it as a pretext for further aggression,” added Zeman.
According to him, however, a conflict with NATO is extremely unlikely. “Russia would clearly lose that,” said the ex-president. According to him, Europe should arm itself, but effectively. “Corruption is also connected with arms contracts,” he emphasized.
Support of Ukraine
Zeman further mentioned that he is telling everyone, including his supporters and supporters who are on the side of Russia, to remember the occupation of Czechoslovakia at the time by Moscow.
“Remember the night of August 21, 1968. At that time, the Russians also attacked us at night. They attacked a small country that did not defend itself. I share the opinion that physical defense was probably not possible. Ukraine is defending itself. Even when we remember the Soviet occupation of 1968, we should support Ukraine,” Zeman pointed out.
Reformer for Russia
The ex-president further stated that he would like a democratic European Russia. “I was rooting for Mikhail Gorbachev, who was moving towards this to a certain extent. Today, Russia is moving away from Europe and the US again,” he added.
According to him, it would need a new reformer. “Someone who would reform Russia and bring it, let’s say, to a pluralist democracy,” added Zeman, according to iDnes.
