“The monument is not the property of the Ministry of Defense. He was not in the territory of his land plots. According to legal norms, it could not be included in the category of military burials, ”cites a fragment of the response letter from Metnar Šoigu ČTK.
As explained in the Czech Ministry of Defense, the decision to dismantle the monument to Konev was taken by the municipality of the Prague-6 district, whose competence is to manage the memorial.
“Based on the current legislation, the Czech Ministry of Defense does not have the right to interfere in the rights of the owner of the Prague-6 region, which is responsible for managing the memorial, and therefore does not have the right to decide (question. - RT ) about its possible transfer to Russia,” they said.
At the same time, the Czech Minister of Defense assured that the country honors the memory of the soldiers of the Red Army who fell during the liberation of Czechoslovakia and provides proper care for almost 4000 military graves of Soviet soldiers.
“I believe that these (Czech-Russian. - RT ) consultations could be a positive incentive for bilateral cooperation in the care of military graves,” he added.
Earlier, the Czech Foreign Ministry invited Russia in the spirit of a bilateral Cooperation Agreement of 1993 to discuss the current situation in relations, including disputes about the monument to Marshal Konev.
On April 3, a monument to Marshal Konev was dismantled in Prague.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu turned to the UK with a request to prosecute foreign officials responsible for demolishing the monuments to Soviet citizens, and also asked Metnar to hand over the pedestal to Moscow.
Later, the IC of Russia opened a case due to the demolition of the monument to Marshal Konev in the Czech Republic.