Mikhail Khodorkovsky: the Kremlin has allies in high places in Czechia and other EU states

Russia has recruited allies in many EU member states, exiled Russian businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky said in a video-hearing with a European Parliament committee on foreign interference on Monday.

Khodorkovsky said the Kremlin had managed to penetrate German chancellor Angela Merkel's "inner circle" , found allies in the Austrian intelligence services, and people in high office in the Czech Republic.

Russia's network in the Czech Republic included "high-ranking Czech government officials", as well as communist MP Zdeněk Ondráček, Khodorkovsky noted. He further said the Kremlin had important contacts in Cyprus, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.