Russian Foreign Ministry Responds to Prague's Demand for Return of Embassy Land

The Russian Foreign Ministry has reminded the Czech side of its real estate in central Moscow following Prague's "land demands." According to RIA Novosti, earlier, the head of the Prague 7 district, Jan Čižinský, stated that the authorities are demanding the return of part of the "Stromovka" city park currently occupied by the Russian diplomatic mission.

"If Prague, with its particularly zealous mayors, dares to resort to other 'tools', we remind you that the Czech side also has significant real estate in Moscow’s Tverskaya Street area," the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement reads.

Diplomats noted that the area for the embassy in the Czech capital was allocated to the USSR in the early 1970s based on existing Soviet-Czechoslovak agreements.

It’s worth mentioning that on April 17, the acting Czech Foreign Minister Jan Hamáček announced a decision to expel 18 employees of the Russian embassy, whom he identified as officers of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate, involved in the explosion at an ammunition depot in the village of Vrbětice in 2014. The diplomats were given 48 hours to leave the country. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to Prague over the decision to expel Russian diplomats, after which the Czech ambassador was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.