Lubomir Zaoralek, Chairman of the Czech Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affairs Committee. (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Prague (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy in the CzechRepublic has expressed deep concern about the remark on Vietnam made by LubomirZaoralek, Chairman of the Czech Chamber of Deputies’ Foreign Affairs Committee,at the committee’s meeting on June 21.
Chargé d’affaires at the Vietnamese Embassy Tran Thanh Huonghanded over a diplomatic note to this effect to the director of theAsia-Pacific Department under the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MartinKlepetko on July 2.
The diplomatic note highlighted the traditional friendshipand sound cooperative ties across many fields between Vietnam and the CzechRepublic. It stressed that the community of Czechs of Vietnamese origin hasbeen recognised as a minority ethnic group in the Czech Republic, and hasactively integrated into the host society and contributed to the host country’ssocio-economic development.
Vietnam rejected the remark of Lubomir Zaoralek, whichadversely affected the Vietnam-Czech Republic relations and the Vietnamesecommunity in the Czech Republic, the note said.
Upon receiving the diplomatic note, Martin Klepetko affirmedthat Zaoralek’s remark did not represent the viewpoint of the Czech ForeignMinistry and Government.
He added that the June 21 meeting of the Czech Chamber ofDeputies’ Foreign Affairs Committee was an open event, and there was no officialdocument of Zaoralek’s statement, which was quoted by a number of mediaagencies.
Over the past days, the Vietnamese community in the CzechRepublic have expressed discontent at the negative remark about Vietnam of the Czechlegislator, who is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Many Czech politicians, scholars and businesspeople also voiceddisagreement with Zaoralek’s remark, saying that it did not reflect the truesituation of the Vietnamese community in the country.-VNA
