Prague: Russian spies 'on the loose'

Russian spies are on the loose in the Czech Republic, the Czech counterintelligence service announced last week, and they are determined to inflame the public against the planned US missile defense radar station here.

On 25 September, the Czech Security Information Service (BIS) released its annual report on internal security threats, saying that "The intelligence services of the Russian Federation have attempted in the past year to contact, infiltrate and influence people and organizations that have influence on public opinion," Reuters reported.

"Russian espionage activities in the Czech Republic currently reach an exceptionally high intensity."

A few days later, on 29 September, Military Intelligence seconded the BIS, noting in its own annual report "a concrete interest" but also releasing no concrete details.

On 28 September, a Czech Defense Ministry official even suggested that the country's secret services had actively fought attempts by Russians to purchase parcels of land around the future site of the radar station. That was news to at least one mayor of a nearly town, according to the daily Mlada fronta DNES, which claimed that no one wanted to buy any of the town's land now that the station would be built only six kilometers away.

The newspaper did find one mayor who said he had heard such information before. "People will want to get rid of land that will be unsellable after the construction of the radar station," said Miroslav Leitermann from the town of Nepomuku. "The Russians are those who have money and interest. We, as the municipality, can't influence that."

The mention of Russian spies on Czech territory took no one by surprise, though this was the first time the security service reports had asserted Russian intentions so openly - at least in the versions released to the public. Already several years ago, the BIS estimated that between 40-50 percent of the diplomats and officials working in the Russian embassy and its consulates doubled as security personnel for one Russian intelligence agency or another. Others allegedly function as journalists or employees of various Russian firms.

Russians are not exactly hard to find these days in Prague: Over the past decade, the Czech Republic has become a magnet for Russian investment and tourists. According to the Internet daily Aktualne.cz, the number of Russian tourists increased last year by 40 percent over the figures for 2006.

The goodwill has not spread to the political elite, however.

The Kremlin has been infuriated by US plans to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station 90 kilometers southwest of Prague - key pieces of Washington's intended missile defense shield in Europe against rogue states. Saying the system is aimed at containing Russia and runs counter to Moscow's strategic interests, Russian officials have repeatedly threatened to take diplomatic and possibly military action.

On 10 September, Russian General Nikolai Solovtsov, head of strategic missile forces, said that he could not rule out that both facilities could become targets in the future for Russian missiles, repeating similar comments made earlier by other Russian officials. 

The real question then is not whether Russia has dozens of agents wandering the streets of Prague, attempting to sway members of society, but why the Russians would bother: Public opinion has been dead set against the radar base since the beginning and none of the arguments offered by the Czech or American governments have worked to change that. Between 60 and 70 percent of respondents have consistently told polling agencies that they oppose the stationing of the US base on Czech soil. 

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolonek has said that the first parliamentary reading of the radar agreement would take place in October, probably after local and Senate elections, with the second, and final reading, later in the year, following the US presidential elections. With a number of coalition deputies either firmly opposed or wavering, Topolonek will not have an easy time mustering a majority.

In these difficult times, some have wondered if the striking conclusions of the security agencies were at least a bit stage-managed to drum up support amid a witch hunt for Russian agents and their allies. With so little additional information released by the secret services, it's been easy for commentators to point a finger at the supposed objects of these Russian suitors. Unfortunately, the rumors have swirled around the public movement called "Ne základnám" (No to Bases), while proof has yet to surface.

Earlier this year, the Ne základnám anti-radar movement became of one of the strongest and best-led protest movement since the Velvet Revolution, uniting around 60 civic associations and seemingly always in the public eye, with hunger strikes, petition drives, demonstrations and its materials plastered all over the country. 

While it is theoretically possible that Russian proxies have helped finance the movement, an article in the most recent issue of the investigative weekly Respekt noted that Ne základnám had been curiously quiet over the past few weeks, possibly because their donations had dwindled to small amounts over the past few months (as indicated on the organization’s website). Why, with the vote on the station fast approaching, would this alleged flow of Russian cash be turned off now?

Respekt quoted one of the regional leaders of Ne základnám denying that anyone had actively cooperated with the secret services. "According to me, it's only more propaganda," Milan Papcun, from the Brno chapter, said. If so, it would be a pity that legitimate protesters have been smeared as being in the pay of foreign agents.