The Impact of the Russian-Ukrainian War on Czech Republic

Abstract

As many of us have already pointed out in this compilation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has fundamentally changed the security environment in Europe, and especially in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Like most European countries, the Czech Republic did not anticipate a long war in the escalating Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict, but the Czech ruling political elite has been one of the first to emerge as a major European supporter of Ukraine. After Poland, the Czech Republic has taken in the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in our region, becoming the 11th largest donor to Kiev in terms of GDP (5th if you include refugee funding), and has already provided military support to Kiev before the escalation in February 2022, and was one of the initiators of the joint European procurement of ammunition for Ukraine in 2024. Our study will show how the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022 affected Czech society and Czech politics in their relations with Ukrainians and Ukraine and the Russia that attacked them, and what actions the war triggered from the Czech Republic.