Czechia among seven EU states pushing for sanctions on Russian diplomats

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and seven of his European counterparts have called on EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to introduce swift restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen Area. Czechia has long been pushing for such restrictions to be part of the EU's 14th sanctions package against Russia.

Many Russian "diplomats" in the European Union abuse their positions to gather intelligence, carry out espionage, disseminate propaganda and even plan acts of sabotage, the foreign ministers said in their letter addressed to the head of EU diplomacy. The EU should maintain the principle of reciprocity and restrict the movement of Russian diplomats and their family members exclusively to the territory of the country where they are posted, they wrote. This measure would substantially reduce the operational space of Russian agents and make it more difficult for them to carry out activities harmful to EU security, according to the ministers from Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.