DISINFO: Czech Russophobes dismantled the Konev monument to increase dependency on the USA
SUMMARY
The dismantling of the Konev monument in Prague is a result of Russophobia that has recently emerged in Czechia. It is generated by a tiny group based mainly in Prague, but it has a vast reach through particular media. The people promoting Russophobia have a strategic plan that combines both political and economic goals. In terms of economy, they want to move the countries of Eastern and Central Europe away from energy dependency on Russia. In this way, they aim to strengthen the dependency of the region on Western Europe and the USA. In terms of politics, they want to prevent the countries of the region to implement “foreign policy in all directions”, reducing their sovereignty and strengthening their connection to American geopolitical strategy.
RESPONSE
Recurring conspiracy theory consistent with the pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about EU countries being US puppets and the supposedly hostile anti-Russian intentions of the West. It is one of several disinformation cases about the democratically-decided removal of the Konev monument in Prague - an incident that has raised the ire of the Kremlin and even led Moscow to open a symbolic criminal case to investigate the alleged "defiling of symbols of Russia's military glory." The democratically elected municipal council of Prague 6 voted for the removal of the Konev statue. Using the protocol of the Politbureau's assembly, Czech historians established that on 8-14 May 1968, Konev chaired the Soviet military delegation sent to Prague to prepare the military invasion of Czechoslovakia. Konev was also chief of the Soviet troops in East Germany during the Berlin wall crisis in 1961. In other words, the Red Army brought not only liberation but also terror to Czechia, as the mayor of Prague 6, Ondřej Kolář, reminded. Kolář said that he respects the role of Konev-led forces in liberating Prague, and the sacrifice of Soviet armies liberating Europe from Nazism. "We will strive for an art competition for a memorial to the liberators of Prague at the end of World War Two instead of the Marshal Konev statue," he said before the vote. "At the same time we will secure a dignified - and let me stress that, dignified - placement of this art piece (Konev) in a memorial institution. I think this is a consensual solution we have called for a number of years." The monument to Marshall Konev was erected in 1980 during the "normalisation" period in communist Czechoslovakia. The leadership of Prague's Municipal District 6, which retains legal ownership of the statue, has voted to move the monument to a museum and replace it with a memorial commemorating Soviet sacrifices in the fight against Hitler in general, and the liberation of Prague in particular. More information available here. See earlier disinformation cases concerning the Konev statue which alleged that the purpose of removing the monuments is to provoke aggression towards Russia, that the removal is immoral and illegal, and that Konev's monument was removed with the aim to insult Russia. [Note: This opinion piece contained other disinformation about Poland and Western democracies cooperating with Hitler and Western countries revising WWII history to evade responsibility for allowing Hitler to gather strength for the attack on the USSR.]