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The air strikes against military targets in Syria carried out by US, UK and France in the wake of a recent chemical attack on civilians in the Syrian city of Douma have divided the Czech political scene. While the government endorsed the attack, the president and some opposition parties denounced it as aggressive and unacceptable.

The United States have thanked the Czech Republic for supporting the strikes on Syria carried out by the US, Britain and France on Saturday night, the Foreign Ministry told the Czech News Agency on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Martin Stropnický on Saturday night spoke on the phone with US acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan, who informed him about the details of the attack. Mr Sullivan also told Mr Stropnický that considered the Czech Republic a reliable ally.

The US, UK and France have carried out air and missile strikes in Syria in retaliation for a suspected chemical weapons attack last Saturday.

Defence Minister Karla Šlechtová called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council over the situation in Syria on Saturday. She said after the meeting that the country's security was not threatened by the attacks.

Ms Šlechtová said after the meeting that the US, UK and France have clearly shown that the use of chemical weapons can not be tolerated and that the consequences of attack on civilians have been minimized. She also said that the Czech soldiers taking part at the UN peace mission in the Golan Heights and the Czechs working at the embassy in Damascus were safe.

The Czech government responded in favor of the strike on Syria launched by the US, Britain and France. The attack sends a clear message to those who do not shy away from using chemical weapons, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Saturday morning.

Foreign Minister Martin Stropnický also confirmed on that as NATO ally the Czech Republic had been informed about the attack, although he didn't specify whether he was informed of the attack in advance. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said the attack on Syria had been inevitable, emphasizing the Czech Republic clear stance against the use of chemical weapons.

The presidential office, on the other hand, condemned the attack and accused certain media and non-governmental organizations of supporting the war.

The newly-appointed Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini held talks with Czech top officials in Prague on Wednesday on what was his first foreign trip since taking office. Twenty-five years after splitting up, the two neighbor states are cooperating closely to defend their national interests and boost their position in the EU.

The Senate’s security committee has criticised President Miloš Zeman for tasking the BIS intelligence service with investigating whether the nerve agent Novichok was produced or stored in the Czech Republic. The committee also rejected the position of Mr. Zeman’s office on the extradition of alleged Russian hacker Yevgeny Nikulin to the US after Prague Castle officials accused the government of mishandling the situation.

Senators described Mr. Zeman’s actions in regard to both issues as a security and foreign policy risk. They also called on the head of state not to make similar interventions in the future and to respect the powers granted to him by the constitution.

President Zeman asked the head of BIS to investigate whether Novichok, with which a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in the UK, might have come from the Czech Republic, as claimed by Moscow.

The UK blames Russia for the attack and the Czech Republic was one of several countries to expel Russian diplomats over the matter.

Suspected Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin was extradited to the United States from the Czech Republic shortly after a last-minute appeal was rejected by the Constitutional Court. Mr Nikulin was in custody since his arrest in Prague in 2016 on an international warrant. He had also been sought by Russia. So while the decision was welcomed by the United States, not so much the latter.

The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement saying Russia’s negative reaction to the extradition of Russian alleged hacker Yevgeny Nikulin to the United States had been expected. Via its Twitter account, the ministry said on Tuesday that Moscow’s response had not been surprising.

Nevertheless, from the Czech Republic’s perspective the move was a sovereign decision based on independent courts, including the Constitutional Court, the statement said.

Last week Mr. Nikulin was handed over to the United States, where he will face charges of stealing data from major internet companies. He is wanted in his native country on lesser charges and Russia had also requested his extradition.

The Constitutional Court says an application to extradite Russian alleged hacker Yevgeny Nikulin to the United States was well-founded. The country’s top court on Tuesday published the reasoning behind its decision to respect the US’s request for the handover of Mr. Nikulin. He faces charges of hacking top internet companies, including LinkedIn and Dropbox.

The Czech justice minister, Robert Pelikán, extradited Mr. Nikulin to the US after the Constitutional Court’s ruling last week, which lifted any obstacle to him doing so.

Mr. Nikulin’s lawyer, Martin Sadílek, said he was waiting to hear from Mr. Nikulin’s parents as to whether they want to take the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.

Livia Klausová has asked to be released from her post as Czech ambassador to Slovakia. The news was confirmed by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Michaela Lagronová who said Ms Klausova would serve in her post until the end of April.

The wife of the former Czech president Vaclav Klaus, said she was leaving due to her age and for family reasons. The embassy will be headed by her current deputy Pavel Sladký, until a new ambassador has been appointed.