A Prague official responsible for removing a statue of Marshal Konev urged Brussels to protect the EU against Moscow’s “interference” and “hybrid war,” playing the time-tested ‘Russia scare’ card that never fails to be effective.
Proving that a strong offense sometimes makes the best defense, head of Prague’s District 6 Ondrej Kolar wrote an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, according to Czech media.
He complained that the tearing down of a monument to Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, whose troops put an end to the six-year Nazi occupation of the Czech capital back in 1945, had “provoked a completely inappropriate reaction from Russia.” Russian diplomats and other officials, Kolar offered, “are calling on Czech citizens to physically liquidate those who have their [fingerprints]on removing the statue.”
Moscow, which officially condemned the surprising act carried out by Prague authorities, is therefore meddling in the affairs of Prague and the Czech Republic as a whole, Kolar’s letter alleged.
Russia is also waging a “hybrid war” against the EU, he continued, as the letter took a turn and began to resemble a Cold War propaganda leaflet.
The Konev statue was torn down in early April, with Kolar quipping that the decorated Soviet commander suffered this fate because “he didn’t have a mask on.” This offbeat rationale behind the removal was, for some reason, missing in his appeal to Brussels.
Moscow has described the act as a “dark day” in the history of Prague, the liberation of which cost roughly 12,000 Soviet lives back in 1945. Russian prosecutors have also launched a criminal case over the monument’s demolition.
This is not the first time Kolar has accused Russia of plotting revenge for his actions. Previously, the municipal official suggested there was a Moscow plot threatening his life. This coincided with media reports – resembling spy thrillers – which told of a visiting “Russian diplomat” whose briefcase was full of “the deadly poison ricin.” Russia ridiculed the reports, saying the whole affair looks “looks like another hoax.”
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