Belarusian Spy Network Dismantled in Europe, Says Czech Intelligence Agency

Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian intelligence services have dismantled an alleged spy network run by Belarusian intelligence, the Czech Republic’s Secret Information Service announced on Sept. 8.

The service, also known as BIS, said in a statement on its website that the joint team of European intelligence officers uncovered Belarusian agents and collaborators operating in several European countries.

One of those identified was an unnamed former Moldovan Security and Intelligence Service official, who BIS alleges was passing classified information to Belarus’s national intelligence agency, the State Security Committee, known as the KGB RB.

“This is another in a series of cases that shows how essential international cooperation is in the current security situation. It is also a response to those who claim that cooperation between intelligence services is allegedly not working,” BIS Director Michal Koudelka said.

Koudelka added that the KGB RB was able to build the spy network due to the ability of people to move freely around much of Europe due to the visa-free Schengen Area agreement.

“In order to successfully counter these hostile activities in Europe, we need to restrict the movement of accredited diplomats from Russia and Belarus in the Schengen area,” he said, adding that Moscow and Minsk are trying to use diplomatic cover for their intelligence activities.

The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in relation to the operation, it had expelled a Belarusian diplomat who it said was working for the Belarusian intelligence service.

“We will not tolerate the abuse of diplomatic cover for espionage,” the Ministry said in a post on X, without naming the diplomat.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky made similar remarks, writing on X on Monday: “Thank you to the BIS and Czech diplomacy for uncovering and punishing the espionage of Belarusian agents. In our country, we will not let agents get away with it. We will defend the Czech Republic.”

Romanians Arrest Suspect

Romania’s anti-organized crime agency said in a statement on Sept. 8 that it had arrested a 47-year-old who had formerly held management positions in the Moldovan intelligence agency, on suspicion of treason.

The Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said that the suspect had been disclosing state secrets to the Belarusian KGB from 2024 up until the point of arrest.

DIICOT alleges that between 2024 and 2025, the Moldovan suspect held two meetings in Budapest, Hungary, with KGB RB officers for the purpose of “transmitting instructions” and exchanging payments for services provided.

The ongoing cross-European intelligence operation is being overseen by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, known as EUROJUST.

Russian Allies

Belarus is led by President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko was a senior communist bureaucrat in the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was first elected president of Belarus in 1994. He has remained in power ever since.

The Belarusian president allowed Russia to use Belarus as a staging ground for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when Russian forces based there crossed into Ukraine from the north in the opening days of the war.

Minsk also allowed Moscow to place Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, a move that caused concern for neighbors in the region, including Poland.

Lukashenko said in December 2023 that hosting Russian nuclear weapons was meant to deter aggression from Poland, which is a member of NATO.

On March 4, 2025, Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a mutual security treaty that commits both countries to cooperate on security, respond jointly to acts or threats of aggression, and provide each other with immediate military, technical, and other forms of assistance.

The Epoch Times contacted the Belarusian government for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The Associated Press and Chris Summers contributed to this report.