In a statement published on the X network, the army stated that the aforementioned aircraft was not allocated to provide repatriation flights for Czech citizens who were stranded abroad due to war activities in the Middle East.
According to the statement, Vystrčila’s flight was planned for a long time and approved already in December last year. “According to the plan, the plane returned to its home base within a few hours and is available for the performance of other tasks,” the army assured, adding that the evacuation of the Czechs “was not and could not be affected in any way by this flight.”
“Based on the government’s decision to suspend all flights of constitutional and government officials in favor of repatriation flights, the return flight (Vystrčila), originally planned for Sunday, March 8, 2026, was canceled. Therefore, the President of the Senate will return to the Czech Republic by commercial flight,” the statement reads.
According to its statement, the army considers this explanation to be complete and will not comment further on this matter.
Vystrčil’s journey was criticized, for example, by the Minister for Sports, Prevention and Health, Boris Šťastný (Motorists) and described it as “bullshit”.
