PRAGUE, June 5. /TASS/. Czech media reports about a Russian diplomat allegedly bringing in ricin, a poisonous substance, to the country amid the scandal that ensued after Prague authorities made the decision to dismantle the monument to Soviet Union Marshal Ivan Konev have proved to be completely fabricated, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis acknowledged Friday.
According to him, this scandalous story that has never been proven by anything or anyone emerged "because of the inside strife between employees of the Russian [diplomatic] mission in Prague." "One of them deliberately sent fabricated information about the planned attack on Czech politicians to our Information Security Service," Babis claimed.
According to the prime minister, the actions of this person led to "further complications in the Czech-Russian relations." The prime minister believes that this staffer bears responsibility for "inflicting damage to Russia’s good name in the Czech Republic." The politician cited this reason to expel the staffers engaged in this conflict from the country. "Two employees of the Russian embassy in the Czech Republic were declared personae non gratae," he noted.
"[The Czech Republic is interested] in good relations with all countries but we are a sovereign state and will not allow any actions like this on our territory," he concluded.
TASS currently does not have an official response from the Russian embassy in Prague.
International scandal
In April, Czech media reported that a Russian diplomat had allegedly delivered ricin to Prague, citing security services. Allegedly, it was a part of an operation to poison Prague city officials linked to the demolition of the Konev monument.
Commenting on the media reports, Babis said that he wonders himself if these accusations can be real, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed these claims as unimaginable because no one "of sound mind" could believe such fantasies.