The Czech Republic has banned the entry of Russians using old-style passports
From July 3, the Czech authorities will allow only ten-year biometric passports of the new generation said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
“Security is a priority for our government. We will not wait for another sabotage. Anyone who wants to stay in our country must prove that he is the person he claims to be." adding "In case of a Russian passport with non-biometric information, which was used by the killers [Russian agents who blew up ammunition storages – ed.] Vrbětice, will not be enough. I will also work on limiting the movements of Russian diplomats in the Schengen zone since it is another spying tool used against democratic countries."
Czechia reported its decision at the meeting of the competent body of the EU and urged other countries to take similar measures.
"If a Russian citizen shows a non-biometric passport in Czechia, then their stay is illegal, and the consequence of it is currently being decided. Non-biometric passports are way easier to modify and falsify," Mariana Wernerová from the Czech Foreign Ministry’s communication department stated.
The department’s press service noted that they are “ still trying to figure out what to do” with Russians who are already in the country on a passport for five years.
At the end of April, Czech police completed their investigation into two explosions at ammunition depots in the village of Vrbetice, which occurred on October 16 and December 3, 2014. The explosions killed two people.
According to the investigation, the incident was organized by russian military intelligence and carried out by agents Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin. Law enforcement officials report that in the Czech Republic they used Tajik and Moldovan passports, while possessing Russian documents with the names Boshirov and Petrov.
In 2021, the Czech Republic expelled 18 employees of the russian embassy in Prague from the country and put two Russians on the wanted list - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov. All of them were identified as employees of the russian special services.
Previously, Denmark restricted the entry of Russians with five-year international passports without biometrics.
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