В Чехии разъяснили, почему не всем гражданам разрешено участвовать в боевых действиях на стороне Украины.

This is reported by iRozhlas citing the spokesperson for the Czech president, Filip Plátoš.

Thus, only 40 citizens of the Czech Republic have been granted permission to go to war against Russia, while 74 applications were denied. Among those who wished to fight on Ukraine's side were three women, as well as individuals who submitted applications multiple times.

The representative of Pavel explained that applications are first sent to the Ministry of Defense, which may not recommend that the president grant permission for former military personnel, who remain in reserve, or those who have previously completed basic military service, to serve on Ukraine's side.

However, exceptions can be made for individuals with dual citizenship or those who wish to serve in one of NATO's armies.

The Czech Ministry of Defense consults with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior before submitting selected candidates for the president's approval.

“Generally, we evaluate applications from the perspective of criminal law, for instance, whether they have been subject to criminal prosecution, have been convicted, and so on. Or from the perspective of service activity, meaning whether they are employees of law enforcement agencies. In such cases, we do not recommend granting consent,” previously stated Ondřej Kratoška, a representative of the Ministry of Interior.

Throughout his time in office, Petr Pavel has received applications for permission to fight against Russia from 181 citizens. Overall, he has approved 60 applications that received positive assessments from all three ministries.

It should be noted that according to Czech law, citizens are prohibited from serving in foreign armed forces without special permission from the president.

At the same time, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala publicly stated that there would be no punishment for citizens who travel to fight in Ukraine.

One of these volunteers, Filip Siman, was sentenced in his homeland for looting during combat operations. He was also accused of not obtaining permission from Pavel, but was later acquitted, citing the words of Prime Minister Fiala, who promised there would be no punishment.