Soyuz relocation -- why, exactly?

Most stories quote the NASA assertion, "The Soyuz relocation cleared the
Pirs Docking Compartment, which doubles as an airlock, for spacewalks now
scheduled for January and March."

But haven't they already done an EVA from Pirs with the Soyuz in place on
Pirs, like, on the last Expedition?

Was this a requirement, or a desirement? And was it really connected with
the EVAs, or with the next Soyuz docking?