Prague waiting for Kyiv's consent to its military attaches to Ukraine, says ambassador

New Ambassador of Czech Republic to Ukraine Ivan Pocuch has said he hopes for a speedy solution of the issue of the appointment of new Czech military attaches to Ukraine to replace the two expelled from the country on espionage charges.

"At present, everything is fine, and the only issue to be addressed in order to return to normal diplomatic relations is the return of two Czech military attaches to Ukraine," the ambassador said in an interview with the Kommersant Ukraine Newspaper issued on Monday.

Pocuch said that he had repeatedly discussed this matter with his Ukrainian counterparts and expressed his concern over it.

"Of course, we are talking about the appointment of other people. Some time ago we asked for an agreement from Ukraine. I hope that the decision in this case won't take too long," the diplomat said.

As reported, in May 2011 Kyiv claimed that two Czech diplomats were engaged in spying activities and collected classified military-technical and military-political information in Ukraine. They were declared personae non grata and expelled from Ukraine. The Czech Republic, in turn, linked this step with the provision of political asylum to former Ukrainian Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn, and in response expelled two Ukrainian diplomats.