The Czech Republic is preparing stricter travel rules for Russian diplomats - media
Kyiv • UNN
The Czech Republic, together with its intelligence services, will change the procedure for reporting trips by Russian diplomats. The new rules are intended to strengthen control.
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the intelligence services, is preparing a project to change the notification procedure—the rules governing the movement of Russian diplomats. These rules are to better correspond to the needs of the intelligence services. Petr Macinka, the Czech foreign minister, said this after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland, answering a question about whether the Czech Republic would tighten the rules following the drone incident at Leipzig Airport, UNN reports, citing Radio Prague.
"For many months, we have been assessing the situation. We saw the number of similar cases, understand which people are involved and for what purpose they travel. It turned out that there are not that many such cases. However, we know that the system has certain shortcomings that should be corrected," Macinka said, adding that it is only a matter of time before the Czech Republic makes these changes.
In addition,
The publication notes that the system of mandatory notifications about the movements of Russian diplomats provides the countries of the European Union with information about their travel within the Schengen Area. It also allows states to tighten the regime by granting or rejecting requests for individual trips.
At present, the Czech Republic requires Russian diplomats only to give prior notification. At the beginning of June, Petr Macinka said that a possible tightening of the regime would be discussed at the next meeting of the Security Council.
The obligation to report the movements of Russian diplomats around Europe, Petr Macinka recalls, has been in effect in all EU countries since January. Only Estonia has introduced a stricter regime, he said, adding that a hybrid system operates in other countries.
Reports that Germany may restrict entry for Russian diplomats emerged after Berlin officially held Russia responsible on Tuesday for the August incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where an explosive-laden UAV was discovered. According to media reports, the suspects in the attack are a Russian national with a Latvian passport and a Belarusian national with Russian citizenship. Moscow denies its involvement in the incident.
"Germany is understandably planning certain steps to make its position clear, but at the same time, they say that they are not at all interested in escalating the situation with Russia," the head of the Czech Foreign Ministry commented.
We remind you
As of January 25, 2026, the EU introduced an obligation for employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Schengen Area countries to report their entry into the territory of other EU states, except for the country of their accreditation. EU countries may also choose a stricter procedure—authorization, which requires the ministry's approval before the diplomat arrives in the country.
In January, Petr Macinka faced criticism for introducing softer rules—notification rather than obtaining permission for travel.