Embassy of Russia in Prague

Infobox Diplomatic Mission | name = Embassy of the Russian Federation in Prague
Посольство Российской Федерации в Праге
Velvyslanectví Ruskě Federace v Praha


address = nám. Pod kaštany 1
location = Prague
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ambassador = Aleksey Leonidovich Fedotov

The Embassy of Russia in Prague is the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation to the Czech Republic. The chancery is located at nám. Pod kaštany 1 in the Bubeneč neighbourhood of Prague 6 district in Prague. [cite web
title = Чехия
publisher = Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia)
url = http://www.ln.mid.ru/zu_r.nsf/e0f3cd1a55ff248dc32571e7003f460b/24fc5f125271e8e1c32565e80036044a?OpenDocument
accessdate = 2008-07-08 ]

History of the chancery

The building which is now the embassy chancery was bought by Jiří Popper, a Czech banker in 1927.cite news
last = Eliášová
first = Kateřina
title = Moscow and Prague sued for post-WW2 nationalization
publisher = Aktuálně.cz
date = 3 July 2008
url = http://aktualne.centrum.cz/czechnews/clanek.phtml?id=609844
accessdate = 2008-07-08 ] Edvard Beneš, the then President of Czechoslavakia in exile and Jiří Popper, both of whom knew each other, fled to London on the same aircraft in 1938.cite news
last = Kuranov
first = Aleksandr
title = Russian Embassy in Prague Reclaimed
publisher = Kommersant
date = 7 July 2008
url = http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=909779
accessdate = 2008-07-08 ]

The Bubeneč Popper house and surrounding land was confiscated by the Nazi authorities on 16 March 1939, a day after their occupation of Czechoslovakia, and was subsequently used as the Prague headquarters of the Gestapo. In 1945, after the end of the war, the family attempted to reclaim the property, but were prevented from doing so due to the nationalisation decrees of Beneš, who returned to Czechoslovakia as President.cite news
title = Russian diplomats to be made homeless in Prague?
publisher = Russia Today
date = 7 July 2008
url = http://www.russiatoday.ru/features/news/27120
accessdate = 2008-07-08 ] Although Beneš was aware that the Czech–Jewish banker was still alive and intended to return to Prague, the property was granted to the Soviet Union by Beneš as a gift in thanks for the Soviet liberation of Czechoslovakia from Nazi rule. The building was used by the Soviets to accommodate the embassy of the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia.

The Popper family were to receive compensation for the property, however, this did not eventuate due to the installation of a communist government in Czechoslovakia in 1948.

In 1990, laws were passed in Czechoslovakia which made it possible for restitution to be offered for property which was confiscated after 1948. The Czech Constitutional Court has overturned several of the Beneš decrees and in July 2008, Lisbeth Popper, the daughter of Jiří Popper, filed suit in the Czech courts against both the Czech and Russian States seeking restitution of the property. According to the court filings, the property is valued at CZK1 billion, which in the event of the claim being successful would be paid by the Czech State. The Russian State, which assumed title to all foreign property owned by the Soviet government after the dissolution of the USSR, would also lose title of the property and a new chancery for the Russian embassy to the Czech Republic would need to be found.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that the property is protected under current Czech legislation and international law and that it dismisses any attempts by parties to claim property of the Russian state, either inside or outside of Russia.cite press release
title = Commentary by the Information and Press Department of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Concerning Media Reports of Claims to Land Plot of Russian Embassy in Prague
publisher = Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia)
date = 10 July 2008
url = http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/b428d9ae39d44938c32574830039287d?OpenDocument
accessdate = 2008-07-20 ]

See also

* Czech Republic–Russia relations

References

External links

* cs icon [http://www.czech.mid.ru Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Czech Republic]