Czechia wants action against Russian spies posing as diplomats, says minister

The Czech minister of foreign affairs, Jan Lipavský, says European states need to take stronger action against Russian spies posing as diplomats. In an interview with news outlet iRozhlas.cz, Mr. Lipavský said there were a number of reasons to believe that Moscow’s diplomatic network was serving other interests than diplomacy, adding that reducing the number of Russian diplomats in the Schengen zone was one possibility open to the EU. Czechia does not welcome spies pretending to be diplomats, he said.

The minister reiterated his view that there is an asymmetrical relationship between Europe and Russia as a Russian diplomat who gets accreditation in any EU country automatically gets a Schengen visa for the whole bloc.