Czech cybersecurity chief fired amid dispute over Huawei security threat
- Prime Minister Andrej Babis sacks Dusan Navratil and adds to European controversies over Chinese technology giant
- Analyst says Prague’s positions on Huawei have been ‘a bit chaotic’ amid conflict between economic and political concerns
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has fired the country’s cybersecurity chief, the latest blow in a year-long dispute over threats posed by Chinese technology firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE.
The sacking on Monday of Dusan Navratil – who had earlier warned of the threats – also adds to a growing list of controversies between China and the Eastern European nation.
Babis said government ministers had “unanimously agreed” to the dismissal and that Navratil lacked the experience, managerial skills and communication expertise for the job, national broadcaster Czech Radio reported.
Navratil became the first director of the National Cyber and Information Security Agency – known as Nukib – in 2017 after serving as head of the National Security Authority for 10 years.
In a statement on the Nukib website on Monday, Navratil said he was “surprised” by the prime minister’s reasons for his dismissal but declined to comment further.
Nukib was at the centre of a year-long controversy over its December 2018 reports about the security threats it said were posed by Huawei and ZTE.
Babis ordered government agencies to stop using Huawei mobile phones in December, but called on Nukib for more evidence of risks.
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In March, a Nukib spokesman denied that the security organisation had made its warnings under pressure from the United States, telling news agency Reuters that its action had “surprised the US authorities as much as it surprised Huawei”.
In April, when he met Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei on a visit to China, Czech President Milos Zeman said allegations against Huawei were “not supported by evidence”.
Cui Hongjian, director of the department of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies think tank in Beijing, said that while it was unclear if the warnings on Chinese technology were related to Navratil’s dismissal, clashes over Huawei technology in European networks were likely to continue in step with growing competition between the US and China.
“The Czech government’s positions on Huawei have been very different, and a bit chaotic,” Cui said. “This is indicative of a broader trend in Europe on Huawei and 5G. It’s a kind of contradiction or conflict between economic and political concerns.
“US pressure on Europe has intensified the contradictions, and countries like the Czech Republic are in a difficult position.”
Other European states, including Germany, were wrestling with how to manage alleged security concerns over Huawei.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Minister for Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier have played down US security concerns, although the Bundestag – Germany’s parliament – had prepared a bill that could effectively ban Huawei.
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China’s ambassador to Berlin threatened action against Germany’s car industry if a ban was imposed.
Czech-China relations were shaken last month by Charles University’s decision to close its Czech-Chinese Centre over allegations of undisclosed ties to the Chinese embassy.
In October, Beijing severed sister city ties with Prague after the Czech capital asked for foreign policy issues, such as acknowledgement of the one China line, to be stripped from their written agreement.
“The firing of Navratil was a continuation of a conflict between the Czech government and its critics on policy concerning Huawei,” said Jeremy Garlick, assistant professor of international relations at the University of Economics, Prague. “Navratil was consistently opposed to Huawei, and the Czech president and prime minister are both essentially pro-China.”
Garlick said he doubted that US pressure influenced Navratil and Nukib.
“Czechs are trying to establish their own identity and path for the future … [this has] nothing to do with US influence,” he said. “The Czech situation is complicated. The government is pro-business and pro-China. But there is an influential section of society which is pro-human rights, pro-democracy, who criticise the government for being too servile towards China.”
Richard Turcsanyi, a researcher at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies at Palacky University in Olomouc, said the sacking prompted questions about the politicisation of state security in the Czech Republic.
“The government explanation was vague and added to the speculation, even though we don’t have evidence to prove the links to China,” he said.
“My understanding is that Navratil was publicly outspoken, including on, but not limited to, [matters involving] China,” Turcsanyi said. “He has probably made enemies, making him uncomfortable for the government at some point.”
