Deputy President of the European Commission (EC), European Commissioner for Transparency Vera Yurova is disappointed with the existing approach of the EU countries to Russia. She hopes for a tougher attitude towards Russia at the upcoming May 24-25 EU summit in connection with the incident in the village of Vrbetice (east of the Czech Republic), wherein in 2014 there were explosions of military warehouses, in which the Czech authorities suspect the Russian special services.
“I expect this (a tough attitude towards Russia),” Jurova, who represents the Czech Republic in the EU’s governing bodies, said in an interview with Czech Radio on Saturday. — I have already stated several times that I am disappointed with the existing approach of the EU countries. We need them to react more harshly [not only] to the incident in Vrbetice, but also to all Russian actions on European territory that require a reaction [from the EU].”
According to Yurova, in addition to the Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland will demand a tougher attitude of the EU to the Russian Federation than it has been so far. Athens, Bratislava, Bucharest, and Sofia show considerable solidarity with Prague on this issue, the deputy head of the EU stressed.
“This will be an interesting discussion [on relations with the Russian Federation at the summit], which may again confirm that the perception of risks coming [for the EU countries] from the Russian side is still different [among the member states of the community],” the politician admitted.
Western European countries react to the actions of the Russian Federation, including the incident in Vrbetice, more restrained than the states of the eastern wing of the community.
The diplomatic efforts of the government and the Czech Foreign Ministry to achieve maximum EU solidarity in the Vrbetice case undermine, according to the deputy head of the EC, the statements of the President of the republic Milos Zeman and some other Czech politicians about the existence of several versions of the investigation of the causes of the explosions.
