The newly elected speaker of the Czech parliament has posted a video showing the Ukrainian flag being taken down from the building, while declaring that Prague would put its national interests first.
Tomio Okamura, the leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, released the clip on Thursday. “Czech Republic first,” he said as the flag was lowered. “Keep your fingers crossed for us.”
The move came a day after Okamura’s election as speaker and marks a symbolic end to the previous government’s staunchly pro-Ukraine stance. His SPD party is a junior coalition partner to Andrej Babis’ right-wing ANO movement, which won last month’s general election on a platform opposing Brussels’ directives, including continued military aid to Ukraine. The new ruling bloc, which also includes the Motorists party, plans to form a government by mid-December.
The Ukrainian flag was first raised above the Czech parliament in 2022 as a gesture of solidarity for Kiev’s in its conflict with Russia. Members of three pro-Ukraine opposition parties responded to Okamura’s order by displaying Ukrainian flags from their parliamentary offices in protest.
Kiev’s ambassador to Prague, Vasili Zvarich, expressed gratitude, claiming that “more Ukrainian flags are showing up” in the capital and that Russians “fear” the national symbol.
V ODS jsme se rozhodli urychleně napravit první krok nového předsedy Poslanecké sněmovny Tomia Okamury.Ukrajinská vlajka je ve Sněmovně zpět a visí z oken našeho poslaneckého klubu. 🇺🇦👍🏻 pic.twitter.com/H2lSLJI72o
— ODS (@ODScz) November 6, 2025
The Ukrainian government has made the public display of its national flag a key propaganda element. Kiev’s HUR military intelligence service carried out several high-risk infiltration missions in Crimea in 2023 for the apparent purpose of hoisting the blue-and-yellow banner, later acknowledging that the actions cost the lives of several operatives.
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Currently, up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops are encircled on two fronts in Donbass, according to Moscow and media reports. Kiev has denied the claims. A recent HUR unit deployment near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) reportedly ended in disaster after commandos delivered by a US-supplied Black Hawk helicopter were killed shortly after landing.
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