Czech Republic proposes to limit travel of Russian diplomats to host country only
Kyiv • UNN
Czech Republic circulates a document with ideas to restrict the movement of diplomats from Russia through the EU
The European Union is discussing the Czech Republic's proposal to restrict the movement of russian diplomats by issuing visas that allow to travel only within the host country, given Prague's complaint that that potential spies are avoiding monitoring in the Schengen area. This was reported by. The Financial Times (FT), reports UNN.
Details
Last week, Prague circulated a document with ideas for restrictions on the movement of russian diplomats in the Schengen area, given that that after February 24, 2022, some EU countries expelled hundreds of russian diplomats, declaring them intelligence agents of the russian federation, while others continue to issue visas, which allows potential spies to move freely across the EU's borderless zone. EU.
The Czech Republic is currently proposing that russian diplomats receive visas and residence permits that allow them to travel only within the host country, not the rest of the Schengen area. Prague has also made a proposal that the EU should accept only biometric passports, which are more difficult to forge or linked to fake identities, the FT writes.
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A special issue, as the newspaper notes, concerns officials who have received Austrian visas to work at UN agencies in Vienna, who who can then travel to the Czech Republic. The Austrian government and the commission did not respond to a request for comment, but according to an EU diplomat, agents of agents of the [russian military intelligence] GRU and other services are arriving in the Czech Republic, as it is very difficult to It is very difficult to control this in the Schengen area.
The proposal to restrict the travel of russian diplomats was sent by the by the European Commission to European capitals last week. It should also be note that EU governments are still discussing a ban on russian diamonds and strengthening of measures to ensure the limitation of russian oil prices.
To recap
The EU High Representative for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, together with the European Commission submitted proposals for the 12th package of sanctions against russia.
