Jiří Kobza worked as a diplomat at the embassy in Tehran, towards the end of the mission as chargé d’affaires, previously (since 2000) in the position of trade council. His diplomatic mission ended in 2004, and then until 2017, he was engaged in the wine trade and horse breeding. In October 2017, he became an MP for the SPD movement, which he is still today. In the House of Representatives, he is the vice-chairman of the environment committee, as a regular member he sits in the foreign affairs committee and the permanent commission for monitoring the activities of the Office for Foreign Relations and Information.
SPD MP Jiří Kobza spreads pro-Kremlin disinformation. For example, he questioned the involvement of Russian intelligence officers in the explosion in Vrbětice or spread misinformation that the United States was trying to provoke a conflict with Russia in Eastern Europe. Among others, Kobza gave interviews to the Russian propaganda website Sputnik.
According to analysis, Russia was condemned for the invasion of Ukraine by the majority of the Czech political representation, including the highest state representatives and leaders of parliamentary parties. The invasion was condemned by an overwhelming majority of MPs, most of whom were part of the government coalition parties, including 29 members of the opposition movement ANO 2011. SPD MPs including Jiří Kobza did not clearly and explicitly condemn the Russian invasion.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a massive surge of support from the state and citizens of the Czech Republic. Ukraine needed to be supported in its struggle not only humanitarian but also militarily, especially after it became clear that the first onslaught of Russian troops had been repelled. The government and many MPs sided with state and private support, while the ANO opposition movement was rather cautious and sceptical. The SPD movement including Jiří Kobza unequivocally opposed any form of military support, and on the contrary, accused the invaded Ukraine and its people of Nazism.
Moreover, Radek Vondráček, now the former chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, met with the chairman of the Chinese intelligence service during his visit to China in November 2019. She subsequently invited PS chairman Radek Vondráček, MP Radim Fiala and Jiří Kobza to Beijing for the controversial Dialogue of Political Parties conference, where China established intelligence relations. However, none of them participated in the end.
