The leadership of the metropolis has postponed the decision on the Moscow-Prague metro replacement

On Monday, Prague councilors postponed a decision on the future of the bronze sculpture with the inscription Moscow-Prague, which is located in the vestibule of the B Anděl metro station at the Na Knížecí exit. The reason was the absence of Deputy Mayor Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09), who had to leave the meeting.

In the future, they want to add an information table to the sculpture and will announce an art competition for the final form of the sculpture. Deputy Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) said this when asked by ČTK.

Both politicians were to present the document to their colleagues together. Last weekend, Hřib said that due to the behavior of the Russian regime towards Czechoslovakia at the time and now towards Ukraine, he would suggest that Prague adjust the form of the work or place it in a new context.

The station on line B was opened under the name Moskevská on November 2, 1985, and Soviet engineers played a significant role in its design.

“Unfortunately, the deliberations of the capital city council dragged on, and the co-presenter Jiří Pospíšil was no longer present during the discussion of this item due to his previously announced participation in the memorial service. For these organizational reasons, the vote on the information table was postponed, and we will therefore vote on this proposal next week,” said Hřib.

The station received its current name Anděl not long after the fall of the communist regime, in February 1990, but the sculpture remained there even after several reconstructions of the station. So far, the prevailing opinion is that the work is part of history and reminds of the participation of Soviet experts in the construction of the Prague metro.

The municipality together with the transport company (DPP) and the Gallery of the City of Prague (GHMP) will prepare an art competition that will determine a new form for the relief area. “I assume that a wide range of proposals will appear, from the more radical ones for complete removal to some more moderate ones. The final form will depend on the decision of the expert jury, which will evaluate all proposals,” said Hřib.

Hřib stated that the sculpture is a lie and will be temporarily supplemented with an explanatory sign, the text of which will be discussed and approved by councilors. “The friendship between Moscow and Prague, which this inscription indicates, was just invented propaganda. In 1985, when the Anděl (formerly Moskevská) station was commissioned, Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Soviet Union. And we can probably agree that the occupier is not a friend. Unfortunately, history repeats itself and today Russia is once again occupying a large part of Ukraine,” Hřib wrote on the X network over the weekend.