Czech Republic to demand land lease payments from Russia PHOTO

The Czech authorities will demand that Russia pay for the lease of land plots on which some Russian diplomatic institutions and facilities in Prague, Brno, and Karlovy Vary are located.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has told the České noviny news agency that the matter is about 59 plots of land with a total area of 49,271 square metres. They are said to include facilities that are not used by the Russian embassy for diplomatic purposes. Among them is the complex of residential buildings on Švajherová Street in Prague-6, the Orthodox Church of St. Ludmila on Sibirskaya Square, the buildings of the Russian consulates in Brno and Karlovy Vary (which lost their consular status in May 2022).

According to Prague, Moscow is not using the land for its intended purpose and therefore there is no reason to grant it for free. The Czech Republic in May revoked nine decrees of the 1970s and 1980s, which gave the USSR the right to free use of land plots for diplomatic purposes.