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MFA Statement on the Alleged Occurrence of the Novichok Chemical Agent in the Czech Republic

 

The intelligence information on the occurrence of the chemical agent called “Novichok” in the Czech Republic, currently emerging in the media, is in its majority classified. The MFA thus will not and cannot delve into details.

What may be said however - and what nonetheless has been stated in the past months – is the fact that the Czech Army, through its Military Research Institute in Brno, specializes in defence against the effects of chemical substances. For those purposes, it is only logical that it must know the properties of those agents. A relevant analysis is performed by laboratory micro synthesis, which, however, is not considered as a production under the International Convention.

A small amount of these substances (a few micrograms) are hence examined by the above-mentioned Institute, which has been guaranteed an approval of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The substance itself is then immediately disposed of by the laboratory and is not stored anywhere, as was the case with the A230 substance. Therefore this substance could not have been misused.

Yet, the MFA regards as the most important the fact that the nerve agent used in the UK attack has been designated as A234 and thus is of a different substance than that explored by the Czech Military Research Institute in Brno.

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