Andrej Babis
Andrej BabisReuters

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Friday ruled out the idea that the Czech Republic would follow the United States’ example and move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as Czech President Milos Zeman had suggested a day earlier.

"This idea of President (Donald) Trump is not good. You can see the reactions," he told Czech public radio, according to The Associated Press.

Babis argued that "the big countries should seek peace", adding that it was important not to create new conflicts in the Middle East and saying that the Czech Republic was a “small country which should try and work for peace.”

On Thursday, Zeman hinted that his country could follow the United States and move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem “sooner or later”.

"[President] Trump's decision makes me happy because when I visited Israel four years ago, I said that I would like to transfer the embassy, and that if that happens, we will be the first to do so,” said the Czech president in a television interview.

He added that “every country has the right to decide which city will serve as its capital, and by the same token, every country has the right to decide where its embassy will be located.”

The Czech Republic followed in the footsteps of U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday and said it recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.

“The Czech Republic currently, before the peace between Israel and Palestine is signed, recognizes Jerusalem to be in fact the capital of Israel in the borders of the demarcation line from 1967,” said a statement issued by the Czech foreign ministry.

The statement also stressed that the Czech Republic “considers Jerusalem to be future capital of both states, meaning the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine.”

“The Ministry can start considering moving of the Czech embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem only based on results of negotiations with key partners in the region and in the world,” it added.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)