Czech Gov't Council on Nat'l Minorities retracts 2012 report over claims of "Russian fifth column"

The Czech News Agency reports that the cabinet has re-approved a report by the Government Council on National Minorities about the situation for national minorities in the Czech Republic in 2012. The report was first taken up and approved in mid-August, but was then retracted over information it contained about the Russian minority.

The original document claimed that in recent years, "at the instigation of the embassy and the Kremlin administration, Cossack organizations – armed and uniformed brigades – have begun emerging in the Czech Republic." The associations were said to be managed directly from the Kremlin, to be fulfilling Russia’s power aims, and to be doing their best to infiltrate state structures and form a "Russian fifth column". 

The information sparked harsh reactions from various parties. Novinky.cz reported that Czech Interior Minister Martin Pecina dismissed the notion that the Czech Republic is somehow at risk from such organizations.

Outgoing Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout was appointed head of the Government Council on National Minorities at yesterday’s cabinet meeting, according to the website of the Office of the Government. Kohout replaced former Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) as the council head and will manage it until a new government takes office, which could happen by the end of the year.

"With respect to ensuring continuity in the activity of the Government Council on National Minorities, the Government, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister, decided to appoint Foreign Minister Jan Kohout its chair," the team of the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner said today. Kohout will evidently remain the council head for a few weeks only, as elections are scheduled for the end of October.

According to the statutes of the council, its chair is usually a cabinet member, "ordinarily a Deputy Prime Minister". Kohout is only Foreign Minister, not a Deputy Prime Minister.

The council head convenes its sessions, manages its negotiations, and also signs off on its recommendations to the government. Should he be absent, he can be represented by the vice-chair of the council, to whom he would entrust those tasks. 

Council sessions normally take place once every three months. According to the information on the council’s web page, its last meeting was held on 17 June.

The council was created in the autumn of 2001. It endeavors to defend the interests of national minorities in the Czech Republic.

The 32-member council proposes various measures or legislative amendments to the Government. Fourteen national minorities are represented on the council.