The president of the Czech Republic stated that the intelligence services, for the sake of security, should monitor Russians in Western countries.
Czech President Petr Pavel said on Thursday that intelligence services should monitor Russians in Western countries for security reasons because they are citizens of a country that is at war with Ukraine. The new Czech president, a former NATO general, compared the situation to residents of Japanese descent who lived in the US during World War II.
“All Russians living in Western countries should be monitored much more so than before because they are citizens of a nation waging an aggressive war. I can feel sorry for those people, but at the same time, when we look back, at the beginning of World War II, the entire Japanese population in the US was also under a strict surveillance regime. It is simply the price of war,” said Pavel, who came to power in March.
Journalists asked him what he meant by “surveillance”, and Pavel said he was talking about “security services”. About 120 thousand inhabitants of Japanese origin during the Second World War were put in camps to be under the supervision of the American authorities. US President George Bush apologized to Japan for this in 1991. Pavel visited Ukraine in April, and on Thursday he said that he expects clear support for that country’s membership.
“I am firmly convinced that all leaders will understand that the presence of Ukraine in NATO and the European Union is probably the only guarantee for ensuring stability in this region, for strengthening both NATO and the EU and deterring Russia’s aggressive policy. I see that many countries agree on the long-term support plan for Ukraine, which will not be based on one-time contributions, but on a carefully planned long-term procedure,” he said.
The Czech Republic, a NATO member with a population of 10.8 million, significantly helps Kiev on the humanitarian and military front – it has received almost half a million refugees from Ukraine.
(WORLD)