Czech president bars U.S. ambassador from Prague Castle over Russia spat

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, April 6 (UPI) -- Czech President Miloš Zeman said the doors to his castle residence in Prague are now closed to U.S. Ambassador Andrew Schapiro following his remarks about Zeman's planned travel to Russia.

Schapiro openly questioned Zeman's plan to attend a Victory Day celebration in Moscow, calling the trip "short-sighted" and predicted it would "be awkward" for Zeman to be the only European Union official in attendance.

The ambassador's comments "overstepped the mark," Zeman told Czech news site Parlamentni Listy on Saturday.

"I cannot imagine a Czech ambassador in Washington giving advice to the U.S. president on where he should travel. And I will not allow any ambassador to have a say in my foreign travel plans."

Zeman announced that because of Schapiro's remarks, "the doors of the castle were closed" to him.

The U.S. ambassador appeared to laugh off the news with a tweet Sunday that read "I'm in the U.S. for the holiday weekend. I wake up, turn on the computer, and see that a lot happened while I was asleep! #GladITurnedMyPhoneOff."

Presidential spokesman Jiri Ovcacek clarified later that the U.S. ambassador would not be barred from attending social events at the castle.

The president holds a largely ceremonial position in the Czech Republic.