NATO countries agree on ban on free movement of russian diplomats

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supports the idea of ​​banning russian diplomats from moving freely through NATO member states and limiting them to countries of accreditation.

"Restricting the movement of data of russian intelligence officers is something that has already been applied before. We support the further actions of the allies, which further restrict the movement of russian intelligence officers," said Jens Stoltenberg, the Secretary General of the organization, at a meeting with the heads of the alliance's defense departments in Brussels.

The day before, eight ministers of foreign affairs of the EU countries sent a letter to the head of the EU foreign policy department, Josep Borrell, with a call to impose a ban on the free movement of russian diplomats in Europe.

According to them, intelligence, propaganda, and possible subversive activities are "the main workload for a large number of russian "diplomats" in the EU." The letter was signed by the heads of the foreign policy departments of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania.

After the start of the war in Ukraine, the European Union deprived russian diplomats of privileged entry and obliged them to obtain visas. However, some member states consider such measures insufficient, citing the fact that Schengen still allows would-be spies to move freely through 24 of the 27 EU countries, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland.