Czech ex-President Klaus condemns expulsion of diplomats, extradition of a Russian to US

Ex-President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus has condemned the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Prague and the extradition of the alleged Russian hacker Yevgeny Nikulin to the US. Klaus, the president in 2003-2013, considers the expulsion of three diplomats over the Skripal case and the extradition as a mistake by the current authorities, TASS reports. “A political decision was made to [extradite Nikulin] and, in my opinion, it was made fatally bad,” Klaus told the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper. The issue of Nikulin could negatively affect the relations between Prague and Washington, according to the 76-year-old. The Czechs, after extradition, “intervened in the internal American conflict” between President Donald Trump and his opponents, Klaus noted. He also described the expulsion of Russian diplomats as “childishness,” saying that the UK has not provided any evidence of Russian involvement in the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.