Coalition blocks Deputy Speaker Urbanová's trip to Ukraine, but she still plans to go

On Thursday, the Organizational Committee of the Czech Chamber of Deputies blocked a working trip to Ukraine by Deputy Speaker Barbora Urbanová of the STAN party. The decision was made with votes from the ruling coalition, despite the fact that all opposition representatives present had backed the request.

Urbanová said she had received an invitation to visit Ukraine from Olena Kondratiuk, Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada. She submitted a request to the Chamber's leadership for approval of the trip, but Speaker Tomio Okamura demanded she withdraw it, which Urbanová refused to do. In the end, the trip was formally rejected by votes from the ruling coalition's MPs.

The deputy speaker called what happened undignified behavior — in her words, the disrespect was not aimed at her personally or at the STAN party, but at the people she represents. "If someone wants respect for their constitutional role, they should show the same respect for mine," she wrote on social media.

How the vote unfolded

According to Matěj Gregor, deputy head of the parliamentary caucus of the Motorists party, 11 of the committee's sixteen members took part in the vote — six from the coalition and five from the opposition. All five opposition MPs present voted in favor of approving Urbanová's trip, while only Okamura and Gregor himself voted against. The remaining four coalition lawmakers abstained, but that was enough to sink the request, since Urbanová failed to secure the necessary majority of votes among the committee members present.

Gregor explained that the invitation from the Ukrainian side stated that Urbanová's visit would support Ukraine's aspiration to join the European Union — a politically sensitive issue, in his view. He therefore asked the deputy speaker how she would publicly present her position to foreign journalists. According to Gregor, Urbanová replied that she would answer questions as Barbora Urbanová of STAN, speaking in her own capacity, and that she would support that stance.

Urbanová intends to go on her own

Despite the rejection, the deputy speaker has not abandoned her plans to visit Ukraine. "That's exactly what we're discussing with the Ukrainian side right now. I won't disclose the details, including those related to security. But yes, I am working to make this trip happen on my own," she confirmed.

Urbanová also thanked the other opposition parties for their support and said she does not see herself as the side that failed to handle the tense discussion at the committee meeting — in her view, this is a matter of professionalism and the interests of the country's citizens.

Source: novinky.cz