Is the marshal coming home?

The Czech authorities de facto recognized the wrongdoing of Prague politicians and are ready to give Russia the dismantled monument to Marshal Konev. However, the problem is that the path from readiness to issuance can be quite thorny.

The Czech authorities finally found the strength to act wisely and at least partially alleviate the diplomatic scandal provoked by them from scratch. Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petršicek said in an interview with local media that he was ready to negotiate on moving the dismantled monument to the territory of Russia.

But until recently, the position was different. When the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu offered to give - or, if Prague really wanted to, to sell (Moscow was ready to pay transportation costs) - a monument to Russia, the Czech authorities said that they did not have the authority to make such a decision. The monument is on the balance of the district municipality (which decided to dismantle), so you need to negotiate with it. The very head of the municipality, Ondřej Kolář - a consistent Russophobe - declared that he would not talk to anyone. Allegedly, he had earlier suggested that Moscow take the monument, the Russians refused, because they considered it to be “barbarism”, and now the question is closed - the dismantled monument will go to the museum.

What has changed now? Why did you suddenly find authority? Apparently, there are several reasons for this.

First of all, the Czechs themselves understand that the demolition of the monument was a disgrace. Yes, the Czech media are consolidatingly opposing Russia's interference in the internal affairs of the country (as they call the criticism of the demolition by Russian structures, as well as the initiation of a criminal case on this issue by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation), but the demolition itself is extremely ambiguous. Many criticize the decision of Ondrej Kolář, consider it a petty step by a narrow-minded person and even spit in the direction of Czech history.

The Czechs also understand that the demolition of the monument was illegal - it violates the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Czech Republic regarding the attitude to such monuments. Yes, from the point of view of Kolarge (which the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs was forced to relay in the early days of the conflict) de jure it did not seem to be violated - it was not about demolition, but about “transferring” supposedly to the museum, and this corresponded to the clause of the agreement that monuments can be moved subject to their worthy storage. However, the transfer to the museum did not take place - now the monument is on a commercial basis and by no means adequately stored in one of the warehouses. So, the agreement is being violated.

In addition, the Czechs understand that demolition is dangerous. The decision of the Russophobe who, due to the folly of voters who took the post of head of the municipality (you can’t say otherwise - Kolarge does not have money in the budget to subsidize travel for pensioners, but considerable funds were found for dismantling and subsequent storage of the monument), had an extremely negative impact on Russian-Czech relations .

In Prague, they realize that the Russians are unlikely to forget such a spit, especially made on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Victory.

Moreover, the current reaction of Moscow (in the form of the same case initiated by the Investigative Committee) is by no means the last word of the Kremlin. New words may come after removing all restrictions on tourist trips - and be supported by cases that will limit the flow of Russian tourists to Czech resorts. A country that really needs money to recover from a coronavirus does not need such happiness.

Finally, the Foreign Ministry is trying to hush up the scandal because it can lead to even more scandal. The fact is that a very unhealthy situation has unfolded in the country around the story of dismantling, in which individuals constantly increase the degree of hysteria, for example, they say that the Kremlin’s last argument will not be tourists, but something like “Novice”. Local media write that the Russian authorities are going to eliminate the initiators of the demolition, including personally Mr. Kolarge. Allegedly, the liquidator has already arrived in the Czech Republic on diplomatic documents and is about to prepare to carry out a “retaliation action”.

At first glance, complete nonsense, but those forces that are interested in the new Skripale affair (and now, when Russian-European relations are on the rise again due to the Italians' help to Russia, this business would be very relevant), received in the person of the Collage an ideal sacred a ram whose murder can be blamed on Russia and provoke a new round of the Russian-European conflict. Prague does not need such happiness - it will be realized at the expense of Czech interests. That is why the local police have already assigned protection to the Collage, and the Czech Foreign Ministry is trying to smooth out the root cause of the conflict.

However, there are two obstacles to this smoothing. Firstly, Czech legal conflicts. The local government system is designed so that municipalities are truly independent. And if Kolarge rests against the horn, then it really can, if not prevented, then at least seriously complicate the transfer of the monument of Russia located on the balance of its municipality.

This Czech obstacle is for them to overcome it. In the end, it is in their interest. We are more interested in the second, our obstacle. In Russia, there is still no common understanding of what to do with this monument.

The ideal option, of course, would be to install it in some historically important place in Moscow or in another location associated with Marshal Konev. However, a number of Russian politicians, experts and public figures propose to go further: use the monument in order to teach a lesson to unreasonable Czechs. For example, place it opposite the Czech embassy.

And this proposal is very ambiguous. Did Czech citizens deserve such a view from the embassy window? Of course. Will this placement be the right signal to the Czech Foreign Ministry, not guilty of dismantling the monument, deciding to take a step towards Russia and expecting, if not shaking an outstretched hand, then at least not hitting it? Hardly. Will this step help relieve tension and complete hysteria around the monument, unnecessary for both Moscow and Prague, fueled by Czech Russophobes and a number of people interested in aggravating Russian-European relations? Definitely not. Therefore, if the Czech authorities do the right thing and return the monument to Russia, then Moscow should weigh everything well and do the right thing too.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.