Jaroslav Miko: We are threatened not just by the aggressive policies and hybrid attacks of Russia, but by Czech "patriots" falling for Russian propaganda

Regarding the events surrounding Russia and its possible further aggression, among other matters, it really scares me how many Czech citizens who, moreover, call themselves true "patriots", are uncritically accepting one of Vladimir Putin's demands, namely, that no further NATO military exercises take place in Central and Eastern Europe and that all Allied forces be withdrawn from here.

Leaving aside the fact that Russia itself is militarily engaged in Belarus, intervening militarily in Kazakhstan, and occupying parts of the territories of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, it scares me that this Russian demand is acknowledged and welcomed by many Czechs.

I might understand the efforts of these people to call for a referendum about our membership in NATO (although I am personally grateful for that membership), but for them to be enjoying the fact that some foreign state, in this case, Russia, is making demands that would limit our own sovereignty, our own self-determination - that is really alarming for me.

We were quite lucky that the most recent elections to Parliament turned out as they did. We may not be that lucky next time. If the coalition governing today makes major mistakes politically, then I have no illusions about the current thinking of a large part of Czech society.

In short, not only is Russia itself threatening us with its aggressive policies and hybrid attacks on our territory, but our democracy and freedom are also threatened by our own fellow citizens who are falling for Russian propaganda and cannot appreciate the fact that we live in a free country today.

Realizing this really makes me very uneasy.

In any case, it is now necessary that the western world, of which we are a part today, not give in at all to Putin's Russia and its bold demands, because this Russia is not capable of reaching any real agreement.

This Russia can only threaten and does not respect the rights of its own citizens or international law. We must ever give in to evil!

Just for the sake of completeness: I spent several long years in Russia. I would send Czech Russophiles there for a six-month "curative" stay. I suspect many of them would sober up right away.