Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala recently announced that the Czech government will be requesting rent from Russia for land that it has been using for free since the 1970s. The move is aimed at putting bilateral relations between the two countries on a more equal footing. The foreign ministry report cited that Russia uses 87,863 m2 of state land in Czechia for free, while Czechia in turn has access to only 26,875 m2 in Russia.
The real estate in question is mostly located in Prague, but there are also properties in Brno, Karlovy Vary, Vlkančice, and Jevany. Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Dvořák stated that the resolutions from the 1970s and 80s which “allowed Russia to use large tracts of land on our territory for free” had been made “under the guns of Russian tanks after the occupation of our country”.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský also referred to the fact that many of the properties are being used for commercial purposes, which he said was allowing Russia to get rich off the back of Czech land which it was using for free without justification.
In response to the decision, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would take “retaliatory steps” if Czechia requests the rent in arrears. It remains to be seen what form these retaliatory measures will take.