Russian authorities order removal of fence around Czech House in Moscow

Russian authorities on Monday ordered the removal of a fence around the Czech House in Moscow. The local administration claims that no one had authorized the fence and said they had requested the Czech House management to remove it by the end of September. Czech embassy staff immediately erected a temporary fence for protection using mobile fencing blocks. The Czech Foreign Ministry considers the move to be a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Czech House, the largest property owned by the country abroad, has been operating in maintenance mode for several months now, with three Czech and four Russian employees overseeing its operation. The Foreign Ministry decided to close it down shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.