This list details situations in which a government hosting a foreign diplomatic mission building (such as an embassy or consulate) has deliberately changed the name of the street adjoining said building (often thereby making the name part of the official street address of the building) with the intent of sending a political message to the foreign government.
The street where the Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, and Kosovan embassies are was renamed to Free Ukraine Street (Rruga Ukraina e Lirë) in Tirana on 7 March 2022, reacting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[1][2]
Czechia:
In February 2020, the square in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague was renamed “Boris Nemtsov Square” (náměstí Borise Němcova) after a critic of the Russian government who was murdered in 2015. After the renaming, the embassy switched to using a post address referring to another entrance to the building.[3]
In April 2022, a part of the street used by the Russian Embassy in Prague was renamed “Heroes of Ukraine street” (Ukrajinských hrdinů), reacting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The previously unnamed bridge over a railway was named “Skakun Bridge” (Skakunův most) after Vitalii Skakun.[4]
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on March 10, 2022, Riga City Council renamed a section of Antonijas iela, where the Russian embassy is located, to "Ukrainian Independence Street".[7]
Lithuania:
The previously unnamed dead-end road where the Russian embassy in Vilnius is located was named "Heroes of Ukraine street" in early March 2022 reacting to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.[8]
Norway:
The borough of Frogner in Oslo voted on March 8, 2022, to change the formal address of the Russian embassy to "Ukraine Square", in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[9]
Russia:
In 2022, the unnamed territory in front of the US Embassy was named after Donetsk People's Republic, the geographical coordinates are used by the institution instead now.[10] The same happened to the territory in front of the UK Embassy, which was named after Luhansk People's Republic; the embassy refused to use the new address.[11]
Saudi Arabia:
In 1948, US-Saudi diplomatic relations began when the US’ first diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia was located in a traditional house in Jeddah.[12] In response to the US' support to Israel in the Arab-Israeli conflict, the street was named Falastin Street (شارع فلسطين) in support of Palestine.[13]
Turkey:
In 2018, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Council twice changed the street address of the location of the new United States Embassy building, first to Olive Branch Street in February, then to Malcolm X Avenue in October.[14]
United Kingdom:
In 1986, the local Glasgow government changed the name of the street adjoining the South African consulate to Nelson Mandela Place in recognition of the anti-apartheid activist who was at the time imprisoned by the South African government.[15]
During the 1980s, the block of 16th Street NW between L and M streets, in front of the embassy of the Soviet Union in Washington, D.C. was renamed "Andrei Sakharov Plaza" as a form of protest against Sakharov's 1980 arrest and detention.[17]