2020-09-12 13:34 update: 2020-09-13, 19:44
Igor Matovič, Mateusz Morawiecki, Viktor Orban, Andrej Babiš. Photo PAP/Jacek Szydłowski
The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the four countries that make up the regional Visegrad Group (V4), in a joint statement urged Russia to carry out a thorough investigation into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
"V4 unequivocally condemns the assassination attempt on the most prominent Russian opposition leader. The public opinion both in Russia and beyond demands a transparent and thorough investigation to precisely identify real perpetrators and their motives. Due to tragic historical experiences V4 public is particularly sensitive to any case of politically motivated attempts of silencing political opponents," the statement issued in English reads.
"Therefore we urge Russian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, that will lead to the punishment of the perpetrators. The poisoning of Alexey Navalny with the military-grade nerve agent cannot remain without proper response from international community. The use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable under any circumstances and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. Thus, international inquiry into potential breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention by Russia must be conducted as well," the prime ministers wrote. (PAP)
