Czech leader allows over 100 citizens to fight in Ukraine.
The President of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, has approved the participation of more than 100 Czech citizens in the fight against Russia.
The news was given by the spokesperson Jiri Ovcacek through his personal Twitter account.
“The President of the Republic, Milos Zeman signed a decision giving consent for 103 citizens to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on their request submitted in accordance with Law 855/2004 on Military Service and its Support”, it is stated in notification.
The decision has not yet been approved by Prime Minister Peter Fiala, “the prime minister will sign the president’s consent for Czech citizens to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces in all cases where the application is positively evaluated by the three relevant ministries,” said spokesman Vaclav Smolka adding that it is about the Ministries of Defense, Interior and Foreign Affairs.
Earlier, the media reported that more than 500 Czechs had expressed readiness to fight on the Ukrainian side. In early March, Fiala agreed with Zeman that persons who would fight for Ukraine would not be considered criminals.
But the issue remained with the application approval procedure.
Several people who had fought on the side of Russian proxy forces in Donbass were subsequently convicted in the Czech Republic in recent years.