Disinformation websites in the Czech Republic responded to the incident immediately, mostly questioning the investigation and the legitimacy of the Czech security institutions. A piece of disinformation has spread claiming that illegal ammunition was stored in the depot. Several channels also stated that the announcement has been made to exclude the Russian state company Rosatom from the tender to build the new reactor in the Dukovany nuclear plant or that the Czech government has been pressured into making the statement by the United States.
As a matter of fact, Rosatom’s participation in the Dukovany completion has been widely discussed in response to the Vrbětice incident. However, conflicting information continues to appear. Rosatom issued a press release which suggested that the potential exclusion of Rosatom from the tender was politically motivated and would go against the interests of the Czech industry. However, the tender has not been launched yet. The Czech Republic decided not to send Rosatom the security questionnaire, but its participation in the tender once it is officially on the table remains unclear.
On April 29, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in response to the inhumane treatment of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny; the Russian military build-up near the Ukrainian border, and the Vrbětice explosion. According to the resolution, Russia “not only poses an external threat to European security but is also waging an internal war against its own people in the form of systematic oppression of the opposition and arrests in the streets.” In connection to Vrbětice, the European Parliament calls on Russia to “pay compensation to the families of citizens who died in the 2014 attack.” Several EU Member states, including the Baltic countries, Slovakia and Romania, have expelled Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic.
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