“Corrupt Ukrainian regime”: new Czech parliamentary speaker Okamura links corruption in Kyiv with a call to stop aid to Ukraine

Tomio Okamura, recently elected speaker of the lower house of the Czech parliament, is continuing on a course toward a sharp revision of Prague’s policy toward Ukraine.

After he ordered the Ukrainian flag to be removed from the facade of the parliament building, the politician, against the backdrop of a new corruption scandal in Kyiv, demanded that financial support for Ukraine be halted.

“We demand an immediate end to the financing of the corrupt Ukrainian regime. The Czech Republic must be the priority,” Okamura declared, commenting on reports of large-scale embezzlement in Ukraine’s energy sector, where, according to Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies, there is a kickback scheme worth tens of millions of dollars in the state company Energoatom.

The leader of the right-wing Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, known for its hardline anti-immigration and eurosceptic rhetoric, has long criticized military and financial aid to Kyiv. According to him, the funds Prague sends to Ukraine under EU-wide and bilateral programs would be “better spent on supporting Czech families, pensioners, and businesses” suffering from high inflation and energy prices.

Okamura links his demands to stop funding to the internal situation in Ukraine itself, where in recent weeks another major corruption scandal has broken out around energy-sector procurement and several high-ranking officials. The scandal has already led to ministerial resignations and increased pressure from Western partners on Kyiv to speed up anti-corruption reforms, which remain a key condition for further assistance and progress toward EU membership.

Back during the election campaign, Okamura had focused on an anti-immigration agenda and promised to review residence permits issued to Ukrainians, claiming that refugees “take jobs away from Czechs” and overload the social support system. Now, having taken one of the key positions in the Czech political system, he has the opportunity to promote these ideas not only during election campaigns but also at the level of the parliamentary agenda, which could complicate Prague’s relations with Kyiv and its EU partners.