The Prague authorities’ demand for Russia to return part of the Stromovka city park, where the Russian embassy is located, is baseness. Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Head of the International Committee of the Federation Council, told Izvestia on Monday, April 19.
“The citizens of Prague are behaving unworthily. <…> Let’s take away from each other what has been transferred or not transferred. It seems to me that this is just a certain baseness. Well, they will return this part of the park, and what next? I think that <…> revenge is a bad advisor, ”he said.
Dzhabarov hoped that in the end there would be “an intelligent person who will stop them.” The senator also expressed the hope that bilateral relations will sooner or later level out, but added that with the current government of the Czech Republic, which is anti-Russian, “you can’t cook porridge.”
Earlier that day, it became known that the Prague authorities demanded that Russia return part of the Stromovka city park, on the territory of which the Russian embassy is located. It was noted that we are talking about half a hectare of land in the Czech capital. It was also indicated that when the Warsaw Pact troops arrived in the country, the soldiers occupied the park, where they set up a camp. It is also noted that the area of the USSR embassy was increased by part of Stromovka.
In addition, it was emphasized that the reason for the demand to return part of the land was information about the involvement of Russian special services in the explosions at the ammunition depot in 2014.
On the eve of the Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babis said that the authorities suspect the Russian special services of involvement in the explosion at a warehouse in Vrbetica.
On April 17, the Czech Republic announced that it was expelling 18 Russian diplomats. According to the first vice-premier, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as the interim head of the Czech Foreign Ministry Jan Hamacek, the diplomats were “identified” by the special services as officers of the GRU and SVR. He added that they must leave the Czech Republic within 48 hours.
In turn, Moscow on the evening of the next day announced 20 employees of the Czech Embassy in Russia persona non grata. As noted by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova, the Czech Embassy in Moscow will no longer be able to employ Russian citizens.