European Union Member States have agreed to restrict the travel of Russian diplomats within the EU in response to an upsurge in sabotage attempts attributed to Russia and carried out by spies operating under diplomatic cover, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday 7 October.
Initiated by the Czech Republic, the proposed rules will require Russian diplomats posted to EU capitals to inform other governments of their travel plans before crossing the border of their host country.
Part of the 19th package of European sanctions against Russia, these measures will be discussed on Wednesday 8 October by Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper).
According to the Financial Times, EU intelligence services claim that Russian spies, posing as diplomats, often run operations beyond their host countries in order to better evade counter-espionage surveillance.
Prague has already banned several Russian diplomats suspected of contributing to intelligence activities from entering Czech territory, but hundreds of them are still accredited to neighbouring Austria and can therefore legally cross the border into the Czech Republic. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)