Presidential office downplays Pavel’s claim about monitoring Russians

The Czech president’s office on Friday clarified President Pavel’s earlier statement that Russian citizens living in the West should be monitored by intelligence services.

In an interview for Radio Free Europe on Thursday, the Czech head of state said that “all Russians living in Western countries should be monitored much more than in the past, because they are citizens of a nation that is leading an aggressive war.”

Mr. Pavel defended his proposal by arguing that the United States took a similar step during World War II, when Japanese people living on US soil were monitored by security services.

The President’s spokeswoman, Markéta Řeháková, told AFP that what he said in no way suggests that Russian citizens should be interned or persecuted, as Russian media reported.