Russia-backed separatists from Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region attempted to establish an official representation in the Czech Republic on Sept. 1, opening a mock consulate in Ostrava which was described as the "the first official representation in the EU" of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The move elicited a sharp response from the Czech Foreign Ministry which said it does not recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and will ask a court to outlaw the grouping that established the centre.
The opening of the Donetsk mock consulate in the Czech Republic’s third largest city attracted a few dozen reporters and a group of protesters who stood out in the street holding up banners reading “Russian aggression” and “Moscow-orchestrated theatre”. Inside, the opening ceremony appeared to be almost entirely in the hands of one woman Nela Lisková, a member of the xenophobic National Militia movement, who proclaimed herself “honorary consul” of the Donetsk People’s Republic in the Czech Republic.
