Czechia has decided to ban the entry of Russians without biometric passports, meaning that Russian citizens without such passports will not be able to stay in Czechia legally.
During a recent meeting, the relevant EU body urged other states to adopt the same measure. Consequently, Denmark has already followed Czechia's lead. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky commented on the decision, stating that such a move was necessary to prevent potential Russian sabotage.
Lipavský further noted that Russian citizens wishing to stay in Czechia must prove their trustworthiness. Additionally, in 2014, two people were killed in explosions at an ammunition depot in the eastern Czech town of Vrbetica, caused by a Russian sabotage operation. The incident also resulted in tens of millions of dollars in damages. Some media reports in 2021 suggested that the ammunition was intended to be transferred to either Ukraine or the Syrian opposition fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia. In response, the company that owned the supplies disputed these claims.
In April of this year, Minister Lipavský reiterated the need to ban the movement of Russian diplomats in the Schengen area, emphasizing that Russian intelligence poses a threat to the European Union. During the same period, two Russian agents were arrested in Germany on espionage charges, suspected of sending information to Russia and planning attacks to sabotage support for Ukraine. Consequently, the Foreign Minister expressed full support for Germany's decision to take measures to prevent Russia from bringing terror to its territory.
Last fall, the Czech Republic proposed that Russian agents should no longer be allowed to travel freely within the Schengen area. However, this proposal has not yet gained support from all Schengen member countries. The Czech Republic has called on the EU to consider imposing movement restrictions on Russian diplomats entering the Schengen area. The EU has already tightened some visa rules for Russian diplomats. In 2022, the EU stopped issuing Schengen visas to Russian diplomats under relaxed regulations.