The Principality of Liechtenstein presented territorial claims to the Czech Republic: the state intends to regain about two thousand square kilometers of territories that were confiscated by the Czechoslovak authorities after the Second World War, on the basis of decrees of the second president of the republic, Edward Beneš.
The corresponding claim was sent to the European Court of Human Rights. Commenting on this decision, Liechtenstein Foreign Minister Katrin Eggenberger said that the application of Benes’s decrees was illegal, and its consequences remained unresolved. In turn, the deputy head of the Czech Foreign Ministry Martin Smolek expressed the opinion that this issue cannot and should not be resolved in the ECHR.
Observers noted that the territories to which Liechtenstein claimed rights are 10 times the territory of the principality. These lands are home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Baroque residence of Valtice and the neo-Gothic Lednice castle.
Since 2012, the Czech Republic has been pursuing a restitution policy, returning land and buildings illegally confiscated after 2018 to their previous owners.
