PRAGUE (Reuters) - Russian intelligence services are
conducting 'an information war' in the Czech Republic, building a
network of puppet groups and propaganda agents that could be used to
destabilize the country, the BIS counterintelligence service warned
on Thursday.
Czech security
services have long focused attention on a Russian presence that
remains significant a quarter century after the country of 10.6
million broke from Moscow's orbit and became a member of NATO and the
European Union.
In its annual
report, the BIS said Russian and Chinese intelligence remained the
most active operating in the Czech Republic, and Russia particularly
sought to influence Czech media over its role in the Ukrainian and
Syrian conflicts.
Russia annexed
Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and Kiev and the West say Moscow is
arming and supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. In Syria,
Russia supports President Bashar al-Assad whom Western governments
want to see leave power and Russian aircraft have carried out strikes
on U.S.-back rebels.
The BIS warned that
Russian agents sought to stoke social and political tensions in the
country by using puppet groups and supporting populist and extremist
groups.
"The
infrastructure created for achieving these goals will not disappear
with the end of the two conflicts," BIS said.
"It can be used
to destabilize or manipulate Czech society or political environment
at any time, if Russia wishes to do so."
Fears of Russian
interference in countries along the European Union's eastern flank,
especially in the Baltics, are growing in the wake of the Ukrainian
crisis and NATO has been looking to beef up its defenses.
Additionally a
pro-Russian lobby in Czech Republic seeks to boost relations with
Russia, while its popular president, Milos Zeman, expresses
pro-Russian views.
He has spoken out
against EU sanctions on Russia and was the only Western leader to
attend the May 2015 celebrations in Moscow to mark the end of WW2,
when other Western heads of state stayed away.
Russian intelligence
agents, the BIS report said, sought to weaken Czech media through
infiltration and by spreading propaganda and disinformation.
The tactics included
relativization of truth and objectivity, and promoting the view that
all sides lie, the report said.
BIS said "a
large number" of Russian intelligence officers were working
undercover as part of the Russian embassy in Prague, which is by far
the largest foreign mission in the country with around 140 staff,
twice as many as the U.S. mission.
In Moscow, there was
no immediate comment from the Federal Security Service to the BIS
charge, nor was the Russian embassy in Prague immediately available
for comment.
Zeman's spokesman
made no immediate comment to emailed questions.
