By Lenka Ponikelska
Russia's President Vladimir Putin is seen through a video camera's viewfinder, as he speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on December 18, 2014.
The Czech Jewish community protested a decision by President Milos Zeman to invite his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to commemorate Holocaust events in Prague next month, saying the visit would be “inappropriate.”
Zeman invited Putin and other representatives of the other Allied countries in the Second World War to a forum on Holocaust history in Prague and Terezin on Jan. 26-27. The Czech leader has refused to condemn Russia for annexing Crimea from Ukraine in March and for its role in fueling a separatist rebellion in the former Soviet republic.
“The regime Putin established and embodies doesn’t respect international treaties, is aggressive and uses its power to occupy the territory of a neighboring state,” the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic said in an e-mailed statement. It said his participation wouldn’t be appropriate given the “current political situation.”
As the conflict in Ukraine has rippled through the region once dominated by the Soviet Union, Zeman has drawn criticism for his stance on Russia’s role in Ukraine. He’s also been criticized by other politicians and in the media for his refusal to condemn human rights abuses in Russia and China. The government in Moscow denies involvement in neighboring Ukraine.
While Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has publicly stated that he’ll come to Prague, the Czech presidential office wouldn’t comment on any other participants before releasing a full guest list, according to Zeman’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek.
The plan to invite Putin along with other leaders was announced on Nov. 18.
The Czech president, who shocked the nation last month by using swear words during a live broadcast interview, earned a barrage of eggs and was booed by voters during his speech to mark the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on Nov. 17.
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