OREANDA-NEWS. Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis announced that he had decided to dismiss the head of the country's Ministry of Health Jan Blatna.

"Instead of Jan Blatna, the post of head of the Ministry of Health will be taken by the director of the Faculty Hospital in Prague, Petr Arenberger," said Babiš, quoted by Czech TV.

In turn, Blatny said that he considers his dismissal to be politically motivated. He said at a press conference: "By the decision of the prime minister, I was relieved of the post of head of the Ministry of Health. I believe that this was done for political reasons. I myself treated my work honestly, using all my knowledge and strength."

Areberger will become the fourth Czech Minister of Health during the coronavirus pandemic.

At 11.30 (12.30 Moscow time) at the Prague Castle, the ceremony of appointing the new head of the Ministry of Health by the President of the Republic Milos Zeman will take place.

Earlier, Prime Minister Andrei Babish said that the European Union "indirectly forces" the Czech Republic to begin negotiations with Russia on the purchase of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.

Earlier, Babis criticized the statement of the Portuguese presidency of the European Union that the EU reached a compromise on the division of an additional 10 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Most EU countries have abandoned the vaccine in favor of the worst-hit Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia and Bulgaria, according to Lisbon. The Czech Republic, which in October 2020 and February 2021 was in first place in the world in terms of the number of new patients and deaths from COVID-19 per 100 thousand inhabitants, was not included in the list.