Czechia bans entry for Russian diplomats without official accreditation
Photo: Czechia has banned Russian diplomats from entering the country (Getty Images)
Czechia has decided to ban Russian diplomats and holders of service passports who do not have national accreditation from the country's government, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský says.
"At my proposal today the government has banned entry into Czechia for Russian diplomats and holders of service passports who do not have national accreditation from Czechia. The measure applies at international airports," Lipavský says.
The Czech Foreign Minister also stresses that the number of sabotage operations is increasing and "we will not risk agents operating under diplomatic cover."
"We are setting an example for other countries and I will continue to push for the most rigorous measures at the Schengen level. We will defend Czechia," he adds.
Russian attempts to influence Czechia
Romanian, Czech, and Hungarian special services exposed and dismantled an intelligence network linked to Russia and Belarus that was operating in Europe. In addition, the Czech authorities decided to expel one employee of the Belarusian embassy.
In the Czech parliamentary elections scheduled for October, there is a high probability of victory for the populist ANO (Yes) party, led by billionaire and former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. If successful, he may once again take office as head of government.
