France supports Czechia’s proposal to restrict movement of Russian diplomats in Schengen

The Czech proposal to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen Area has received support from France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told ČTK in an interview. The Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union also agrees with it, although unanimous support has not yet been reached.

For more than a year, Czechia has been promoting the proposal to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats, of whom there are between two and three thousand in Europe, including service personnel and family members. For diplomatic and tactical reasons, Mr. Lipavský has not spoken publicly about who exactly disagrees with the proposal, so that discussions can be held behind closed doors. “I was pleased that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs supported the proposal in his speech at the council meeting," the minister commented.