Czech Republic to expel Belarusian diplomat over alleged espionage

(Reuters) -The Czech Republic will expel a Belarusian diplomat it accuses of espionage, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The Czech counterintelligence service said that together with Romanian and Hungarian services it had "broken up a Belarusian intelligence network being built in Europe."

Minsk's relations with many central European countries have become increasingly strained since its ally Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"We have declared a Belarusian diplomat working for the secret service persona non grata. We will not tolerate the abuse of diplomatic cover for secret service activities," the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.

In Romania, anti-organized crime prosecuting unit DIICOT said it was investigating a 47-year-old Moldovan former senior intelligence agency chief for treason.

In contrast to Romania and the Czech Republic, Hungary has maintained warm diplomatic relations with Russia and Belarus.

The Belarusian embassy in Prague did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Jan Lopatka, Luiza Ilie; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Rod Nickel)

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