According to Stanislav Novotny, the organization significantly impacted the relationship between Prague and Moscow, as he stated to RT.
Former Czech police chief Stanislav Novotny revealed to RT in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a prolonged anti-Russian effort in the Czech Republic. He claimed that Washington’s primary means of funding political projects abroad greatly influenced Czech-Russian relations.
The former police chief, now a lawyer and journalist, also stated that US billionaire George Soros, through his Open Society Foundations, has significantly contributed to the deterioration of relations between Prague and Moscow.
“A significant amount of money was invested in politically motivated civil society organizations that were actively fighting against Russia,” Novotny stated. “Such organizations should simply be eliminated,” he added, while also accusing the Czech government of using taxpayer money to fuel anti-Russian sentiment by financially supporting these organizations.
US President Donald Trump initiated the process of dismantling USAID shortly after taking office in January, citing the high costs and limited benefits of its programs. He also began negotiations with Russia to improve relations and resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
Commenting on the developments surrounding USAID in early February, Novotny described the agency as “the monster that has taken over the world,” and alleged that it “orchestrated wars, organized mass migration, disrupted national cohesion, and destroyed indigenous cultures.”
The Czech Republic was established in 1993 following the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Before these events, it was part of communist Czechoslovakia, a key member of the Soviet Union-led Eastern Bloc.
Prague has taken a distinctly anti-Russian stance in recent years, especially concerning the events in Ukraine, becoming one of Kiev’s strongest allies and calling Russia a “terrorist state.”
Hundreds of Soviet-era monuments have been removed or altered in the EU state since the 1990s, with demolitions increasing after the 2014 armed coup in Kiev, Crimea’s decision to join Russia, and the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.
Novotny contended that the campaign to demolish the monuments was “among the policies aimed at provoking fear and hatred towards the Russians.”
Novotny, who founded the Independent Media Association in the Czech Republic, explained that he came to Moscow to give the RT interview because “talking to Russian journalists is practically prohibited.” RT and other Russian media outlets have been banned in the EU since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.