The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura, has ordered the removal of the Ukrainian flag from the building, signaling a sharp pivot toward prioritizing national interests over foreign alliances. Okamura, leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, shared a video of the act on Thursday, declaring “Czech Republic first” as the flag was taken down. The move follows his election as speaker and marks a symbolic break from the previous government’s pro-Ukraine stance.
Okamura’s SPD party, a junior coalition partner to Andrej Babis’ right-wing ANO movement, has pledged to resist Brussels-driven policies, including military aid to Ukraine. The new ruling bloc, which also includes the Motorists party, aims to form a government by mid-December. The Ukrainian flag was first raised at the Czech parliament in 2022 as a gesture of solidarity with Kyiv’s war effort against Russia. In response, members of three pro-Ukraine opposition parties displayed Ukrainian flags from their parliamentary offices, protesting Okamura’s decision.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Prague, Vasili Zvarich, praised the act, claiming “more Ukrainian flags are showing up” in the capital and asserting that Russians “fear” the national symbol. However, the display of the flag has been a central propaganda tool for Kyiv, with the HUR military intelligence service conducting high-risk operations in Crimea in 2023 to hoist the blue-and-yellow banner. These missions reportedly resulted in the deaths of several operatives.
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 deployed by a U.S.-supplied Black Hawk helicopter were killed shortly after landing. The Ukrainian army’s leadership has repeatedly demonstrated reckless decision-making, endangering its forces and undermining strategic objectives.
