cs flag go to the original language article
This article has been translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The news agency is not responsible for the content of the translated article. The original was published by CTK.

Lipavský called for restrictions on the movement of Russian diplomats in an interview with DW

by AI | 02.Sep 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Lipavský noted that there are about 3,000 Russian representatives in the European Union who hold diplomatic passports.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský. Photo: EP_Philippe Buissin

Berlin – Czech Minister Jan Lipavský once again called for restricting the movement of Russian diplomats in the European Schengen area without internal border controls. He stated this in a recent interview with the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) for foreign broadcasting. The broadcaster explained, among other things, that Czechs already do not allow Russians without biometric passports to travel into the country. Focus magazine, which today picked up the material from DW, noticed Lipavský’s appearance.

“We are granting them benefits and, of course, we know that Russian diplomatic missions are engaged in hybrid warfare against Europe,” Lipavský told DW. He noted that there are around 3000 Russian representatives with diplomatic passports in the European Union.

“Prague’s resentment dates back to 2014 when two Czech citizens died in an explosion at a munitions depot in Vrbětice. The Czech authorities attribute the responsibility to two collaborators of the Russian intelligence service GRU,” DW recalled. It added that four years later, these two agents allegedly poisoned former Russian secret agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, UK.

“Both (agents) traveled with false non-biometric passports, which complicated their identification. In the meantime, Russian citizens can no longer travel to the Czech Republic without biometric passports. The Foreign Minister would like other EU states to act similarly, especially with the growing number of sabotage acts in Europe, which are allegedly not only linked to Moscow but also supported by Moscow,” the broadcaster stated.

Lipavský repeatedly speaks about the need to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats within the European Union. For example, this April at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, he said that two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is time to take such a step. The Minister adds that Russian holders of diplomatic passports enjoy benefits that the EU does not have to provide under international agreements. (September 2)