Germany ‘standing in way’ of Czech bid to limit EU travel of Russian spies
www.telegraph.co.uk
Berlin wants ‘business as usual with Moscow’, warns diplomat as it resists crackdown on free movement of potential saboteurs across Europe

Germany is blocking tighter restrictions on Russian spy-diplomats across Europe.

The Czech Republic has proposed ending free movement for Russian diplomats and their families in the European Union’s Schengen zone amid a series of Kremlin-inspired attacks.

Warehouses containing aid destined for Ukraine, arms factories supplying Kyiv and railway infrastructure heading east have all been targeted by Russia’s mounting hybrid war on the Continent, it is claimed.

Moscow has often deployed its intelligence officers in Europe under the guise of diplomatic postings.

The EU’s free-travel area, which spans 29 countries, is “easing malign activities” across the bloc, Jan Lipasvsky, the Czech foreign minister, wrote in a recent letter to Josep Borrell, Brussels’ top foreign diplomat.

Mr Lipasvsky, backed by eight EU counterparts, urged Brussels to “restrict the movement of Russian diplomats and their family members to the territory of a state of their accreditation only”.

[…]

European diplomats who spoke to The Telegraph and diplomatic notes seen by this publication revealed that Germany is a key blockage to the proposed crackdown.

It prompted allegations that Berlin’s government is attempting to foster relations with Russia, despite promises to end its reliance on previously cheap Russian energy supplies.

“Germany has the approach of returning to business as usual with Russia and they think this is escalatory,” a diplomat said.

  • golli@lemm.eeEnglish
    401·
    11 days ago

    Italy, a member of the G7, emerged as another opponent because of the large number of Italians living in Russia, diplomats said.

    Rome has argued that it would not be able to offer consulate services across Russia if the Kremlin responds with tit-for-tat bans on diplomatic movements.

    Its government also voiced support for maintaining “open diplomatic channels” with Moscow and there were other tactics to fight Russian intelligence agents, a diplomat said.

    Feels like you could have also included that part of the article. Because while the headline ofc isn’t technically wrong, it does imply that it is only Germany blocking the proposal. However the article itself also mentions Italy being against it (and who knows how the rest of the countries are leaning), including other reasons than just wanting to trade again. So it feels like they just wanna bash Germany specifically.

    A more neutral headline would e.g. be “Europe still divided about Czech proposal to limit movement of Russian diplomats to combat spie activities”.

    Personally i think as a layman it is kind of hard to judge who is right in this debate. My first thought would be that you know who you give those diplomat credentials to, so while they might be spies, at the same time it makes it easier to track them.

    The proposal of limiting them to only the specific country they are stationed in only makes sense to me, if it is a problem keeping track of them when they change countries (which would be a problem that should be fixed in general I guess).

    I do like the part with requiring a biometric passport, that seems like an easy enough and sensible requirement. But ofc who says that spies would come with Russian passports in the first place. Couldn’t they also come with passports from other contries like Kasachstan or Usbekistan for example?

    We also shouldn’t forget that we most certainly are doing the same with our diplomats. At least as far as spying goes, maybe not so much the sabotage part.

  • MelchiorEnglish
    215·
    11 days ago

    So the Czech government believes it is impossible to monitore 2000 Russian embassy staff in the entire EU? Some of them are children and a lot of them will not be actually spies.

    Also keep in mind that the EU has spies in Russia as well and quite a lot of them will be embassy staff.

    • atro_city@fedia.io
      9·
      11 days ago

      The Czech Republic has proposed ending free movement for Russian diplomats and their families in the European Union’s Schengen zone amid a series of Kremlin-inspired attacks.

      They aren’t claiming the children are spies but that the diplomats are.

      • MelchiorEnglish
        24·
        11 days ago

        Sorry, I wrote that wrong. It has to be 2000 with Russian embassy passports, which includes families and therefore children. Point is, that it should be entirly possible to monitor them.

          • MelchiorEnglish
            12·
            11 days ago

            Certainly easier then monitoring all national borders in the entire Schengen area for Russian embassy staff.

            The solution is to kick out Russian diplomatic staff. That makes monitoring them easier.

            • 14th_cylon@lemm.eeEnglish
              1·
              10 days ago

              Certainly easier then monitoring all national borders in the entire Schengen area for Russian embassy staff.

              Monitoring them anywhere in the schengen is easier than monitoring them at specific and significantly smaller subset of anywhere (at the borders)?

              That’s absurd and not smart statement.

              The solution is to kick out Russian diplomatic staff. That makes monitoring them easier.

              That would be optimal. However if someone objects to solution of lesser intensity, then this optimal one is not likely to succeed, is it?

              • MelchiorEnglish
                11·
                10 days ago

                Monitoring them anywhere in the schengen is easier than monitoring them at specific and significantly smaller subset of anywhere (at the borders)?

                Yes! How do you know they are crossing a border in Schengen? There are not permanent border checkpoints and few border patrols. So you have to be lucky to catch them in a random patrol. So you either have to know their locations at all times, hence monitor them anywhere, or you need to reintroduce border checkpoints all across the Schengen Area, which means staffing thousands of km of borders and monitoring the rest of the borders for illegal crossings as well. Obviously that destroys the entire advantage of Schengen in the first place.

                That would be optimal. However if someone objects to solution of lesser intensity, then this optimal one is not likely to succeed, is it?

                Germany expelled so many embassy staff that Russia shut down 4 out of 5 consulats. Italy also kicked out a bunch of diplomatic staff.

                • 14th_cylon@lemm.eeEnglish
                  2·
                  10 days ago

                  Yes! How do you know they are crossing a border in Schengen?

                  You know that when you find them on the other side of it. And being on the wrong side of the border is easier to prove than the fact they are going to commit terrorist act.

                  So you have to be lucky to catch them in a random patrol.

                  Which can happen. It also excludes them from the air travel, for example, so it makes their terrorism harder, which is our goal.

                  Germany expelled so many embassy staff that Russia shut down 4 out of 5 consulats. Italy also kicked out a bunch of diplomatic staff.

                  Others did as well. And then the fuckers can just freely come from some other country that did not, which is what this discussion is about.

    • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
      5·
      11 days ago

      Yes, but russians have more ways to deal with spies that are frowned upon in open, democratic societies.

    • 0x815OPEnglish
      21·
      11 days ago

      Some of them are children

      Thanks for this comment. I really didn’t think of this.