“Czech Government Revokes Soviet-era Decrees, Charges Russian Embassy Rent for Land Use in Prague Amid Diplomatic Dispute”

The Czech government has revoked Soviet-era decrees that granted the Russian embassy free use of land in Prague and other cities, Reuters reported, citing BTA.

It is another step in the more than two-year diplomatic dispute with Moscow, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. In 2021, Prague accused Russian intelligence agents of being behind explosions at an arms depot in the Czech Republic in 2014, prompting it to drastically reduce the staff of the Russian embassy, ​​which was until then one of the largest diplomatic missions in Central Europe , but continues to operate at a significantly reduced capacity.

The center-right Czech government has revoked decrees granting Russia the use of dozens of parcels of land in the 1970s and 1980s by the country’s then-communist rulers.

So far, there is no comment from the Russian embassy in Prague.

Now Russia will have to pay rent for the use of the lands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic announced.

“We reversed government decisions made under the muzzles of Russian tanks after the occupation of our country,” European Affairs Minister Martin Dvorak said on Twitter, referring to the 1968 invasion by Warsaw Pact forces.

“Unauthorized profits from the use of these lands cannot be allowed to aid the current occupation of Ukraine,” he added.

Prague has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the country in 2022, providing it with military aid. In November, the Czech parliament labeled the current Russian regime “terrorist,” and last month the government put the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on its sanctions list for his support for the invasion.