Financial Times: The Czech Republic proposed to the European Union to limit the travel of Russian diplomats

The European Union is discussing a Czech proposal to impose travel restrictions on Russian diplomats following complaints that potential spies are avoiding monitoring in the Schengen zone, where there are no border checks.

How writes FT, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, European governments have expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats, claiming they were in fact intelligence agents.

Let us recall that in April 2022 our publication reported that Greece announced 12 Russian diplomats are “undesirable” persons. According to the statement, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared “12 employees of the diplomatic and consular missions of the Russian Federation accredited in Greece as persona non grata. Russian diplomats were declared undesirable in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Affairs of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs of 1963.” .

However, countries EU still issue visas to Russian diplomats, giving them access to the Schengen zone and the right to move freely throughout 24 of the 27 EU member states, as well as Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

Last week Prague presented a document with ideas to prevent this as part of the negotiations on 12th package of sanctions EU against Moscow. Last year, the Czech Republic expelled more than 70 Russians in connection with Russia’s war in Ukraine and Russia’s possible involvement in a 2014 attack on an ammunition depot that killed two people. She now wants Russian diplomats to receive visas and residence permits that allow travel only within the host country, and not throughout the rest of the Schengen zone.

The Czech Republic is also proposing that the European Union only accept biometric passports, which are more difficult to counterfeit. A particular issue concerns officials who receive Austrian visas to work at UN agencies in Vienna and then can travel to the Czech Republic or other countries. One EU diplomat noted: “Agents of the (Russian military intelligence) GRU and other services are arriving on Czech territory. It is very difficult to control this in the Schengen area.”

Discussions are still in the early stages. The complex legal issues involved mean any changes are unlikely to be included in the package currently being discussed. Let us recall that top EU diplomat Josep Borrell, together with the European Commission, presented to member states on November 15 a proposal for the 12th package of sanctions against Russia.

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