EU countries are discussing the Czech proposal to introduce restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats within the European Union. About it reports Financial Times. Prague explains this proposal by the fight against alleged Russian intelligence agents.
According to FT, last week the Czech Republic distributed a document among EU countries in which it proposes to discuss these restrictions as part of the 12th package of sanctions against Russia.
According to the proposal, Russian diplomats should receive visas and residence permits that allow movement only within the territory of the host country, and not throughout the entire Schengen zone. The Czech Republic also proposed accepting only biometric passports, which are more difficult to forge, from diplomats from the Russian Federation when applying for visas and residence permits.
“Agents of the GRU and other services come to the territory of the Czech Republic. It is very difficult to control this in the Schengen zone,” a European diplomat told the publication.
The FT notes that discussions on the Czech proposal are at an early stage. The publication suggests that due to complex legal issues, this initiative is unlikely to appear in the 12th package of sanctions.
In April 2021, the Czech Republic expelled 18 employees of the Russian embassy in Prague from the country. Authorities claimed that they were all identified as members of the Russian intelligence services. The decision was made after Czech authorities announced that the GRU was involved in explosions at ammunition depots in the village of Vrbetice in the Zlín region in the south-east of the Czech Republic in 2014. The explosions killed two people.
According to the FT, in 2022 the Czech Republic expelled “more than 70 Russians” from the country in connection with the war in Ukraine and explosions at ammunition depots. Whether these Russians were employees of the Russian diplomatic mission is not specified.
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2023-11-21 07:52:00