EU to curb Russian diplomats’ travel as suspected spy attacks mount

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EU governments have agreed to limit the travel of Russian diplomats within the bloc, in response to a surge in sabotage attempts that intelligence agencies say are often led by spies operating under diplomatic cover.

Moscow-sponsored intelligence operatives have been blamed for escalating provocations against Nato states — from arson and cyber attacks to infrastructure sabotage and drone incursions — in what EU security services call a co-ordinated campaign to destabilise Kyiv’s European allies.

The proposed rules will force Russian diplomats posted in EU capitals to inform other governments of their travel plans before crossing beyond the border of their host country.

The initiative, championed by the Czech Republic, is part of a fresh set of sanctions being drawn up by Brussels in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The package requires unanimous support to be adopted. Hungary, the last country opposed to the measure, has dropped its veto, two people briefed on the negotiations said.

However, legal adoption could be delayed by a dispute over Austria’s bid to include another measure that would lift sanctions on assets linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, in order to compensate the country’s bank Raiffeisen for damages it had to pay in Russia.

Ambassadors from at least a dozen other capitals said last week they could not back the package if Austria’s proposal was included, the officials said. Further talks will take place on Wednesday.

EU intelligence agencies say that Russian spies, posing as diplomats, often run assets or operations beyond their host countries, in order to better elude counter-espionage surveillance.

“They are posted to one place — but work in another,” said a senior EU diplomat, citing intelligence reports. “The host country intelligence services know what they are up to but, if they cross the border, it can be harder for that country to keep tabs on them.”

In particular, the Czech government has been lobbying for restrictions since May last year. Prague has barred a number of Russian diplomats suspected of aiding intelligence activities. However, hundreds are still accredited to neighbouring Austria and from there they can legally cross the border into the Czech Republic.

Jan Lipavský, Prague’s foreign minister, said the restrictions were needed to restore reciprocity.

’’There is no ‘Schengen for Russia,’ so it makes no sense that a Russian diplomat accredited in Spain can come to Prague whenever he likes,’’ he told the FT. ‘‘We should apply strict reciprocity to the issuance of short-stay, diplomatic visas under the Vienna Convention.”

In 2014 the Czech Republic suffered one of Russia’s worst sabotage attacks on EU soil when explosions at an ammunition warehouse in Vrbětice killed two people. Prague attributed the attack to agents from Russia’s foreign intelligence agency GRU.

Additional reporting by Raphael Minder in Warsaw