Czechs warn ‘colonial’ Russia a threat, even if Vladimir Putin falls

Moscow’s imperialistic behaviour goes much deeper than just one man, warns the foreign minister.

Much of the pressure on Vladimir Putin over the faltering invasion of Ukraine has come from right-wing nationalists who want him to go further. Picture: Gavriil Grigorov/SPUTNIK/AFP

Russia is the “last imperialistic power in the world” and is unlikely to change even if Vladimir Putin were to go, the Czech foreign minister warned, urging the West to stay the course in countering Moscow’s aggression.

In an interview with The Times, Jan Lipavsky warned against the fantasy that the war in Ukraine would end if Putin lost power or that Russia’s ambitions would shrink.

“We have to understand that Russia is the last colonial and imperialistic power in the world,” he said.

“The idea of imperial Russia, it’s not only connected to one man or to elites in Moscow, but to the whole concept on which the Russian state is now built upon.”

Eastern Europe’s experience of Moscow’s imperialistic behaviour has made its countries among the most outspoken over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I think it is natural that there are some historical memory connected to Russian imperialism and colonialism,” Lipavsky, 37, the youngest ever Czech foreign minister, said. “It easily and immediately triggers your reaction to the same behaviour of the Moscow leadership in another country.”

It is that experience, he says, that should make western Europe heed the east’s warnings about the challenge Russia will continue to pose even if Putin falls.

Russia’s poor management of the invasion has reopened questions about Putin’s future, though much of the harshest criticism comes from right-wing nationalists who believe Putin has simply not gone far enough.

“I don’t want to predict what will be the future of the current Russian leadership. That’s not my role to ever say, it’s for Russian people to have a say in it,” Lipavsky said. “But [while] we have this Russian leadership, we need to be ready to contain it from Europe.

“They will think in the scheme of 19th century, they will think in a scheme of grabbing territory by brute force, which is trying to destroy the charter of UN and the very basic principles, which are carved in stone in the document after the Second World War, that the borders won’t be changed by force.”

The Czech Republic currently holds the EU council presidency, which it has used to promote a message of unity over the European response to Ukraine. Lipavsky described Russia’s invasion on February 24 as “the day when the geopolitical Europe was born again”.

He said: “We have aid sanction packages in the EU. We have many decisions on sanctions down from the platform of the G7, we have a clear and unanimous voice from Nato. The UK and the Czech Republic are strong allies and I would like to underline this, these alliances are very, very important. So the common reaction of the West is strong.

“Yes, we have a lot of ongoing debates. In Europe we have certain differences. We have different accents. But at the end of the day, they are united in protection of our civilisation.”

He described the Czech Republic as in a “constant battle” with Russian influence campaigns against the Czech population trying to weaken its relations with western Europe.

“It’s a never-ending story of explaining why we do what we do and to explain to the public our actions. And definitely Russian trolls are misusing our weaknesses. The right answer is resilience.”

Europe so far has demonstrated that, he argues.

“Putin has been absolutely unsuccessful in dividing the West. He started one year ago when he manipulated the energy market with gas prices and created and helped to create inflation in Europe.

“Putin was unsuccessful when he started the war and united the West. And Putin is unsuccessful now with his hybrid warfare against Europe.”

The Times