The Czech government postponed the appointment of the new head of its BIS counterintelligence agency on Monday (August 9), a move seen as allowing Prime Minister Andrej Babis to support the country in the October elections President.
President Milos Zeman has repeatedly attacked the work of the Bank for International Settlements, accusing it of warning his Chinese and Russian allies about intelligence activities in the country.
Zeman’s support is vital to Babis, and his ANO party took the lead in the polls before the October 8-9 general election, because only the president has the authority to appoint a new prime minister.
“The one thing Andrei Babis can’t bear is to lose the favor of President Zeman,” political analyst Jan Kvitina told Czech TV.
On Monday, the government approved the outgoing chief executive Michal Koudelka (Michal Koudelka) as interim director until a permanent head is appointed. Respected by Western allies, Kudelka has been leading the agency since 2016, and his term will expire on August 15.
Sensitive issues in Prague. Zeman, who is pro-Russian and pro-China, is not a friend of Kudelka, and the prime minister is eager not to alienate the Western allies who value the spy leader.
It may take several months to appoint a new BIS leader, as difficult negotiations to form a government are expected after the election.
“We believe that such an important work should be decided by a new government that wins the trust of the people and the parliament,” Babis said.
The biggest dispute involving the Bank for International Settlements occurred in April, when Czech officials accused Russian military intelligence officials of an explosion in a military warehouse that killed two people in 2014.
Prague expelled dozens of diplomats and other staff from the Russian embassy, while Moscow described the Czech Republic as an “unfriendly” country.
Zeman claimed that there are more ways to investigate, but the government and the police disagree.
He had previously claimed that the nerve agent Novichok used in the assassination attempt in Salisbury, England, was manufactured in the Czech Republic. This move was seen as an attempt to divert criticism from Moscow.
He also opposed the extradition to the United States of a Russian hacker who was accused of leaking data from major US companies.
