Prague

[AdamG]

Czech counter-intelligence has issued stark warnings of intensified espionage activity by Russia and China.

Both countries are pursuing a long-term strategy of undermining the West, according to the Security Information Service (BIS).

While Chinese spies and diplomats pose "an extremely high risk" to Czech citizens, Moscow has continued its hybrid warfare strategy to gain influence over this EU and Nato member, it says.

"The Chinese approach is de facto just as hybrid as the Russian one," said the intelligence agency, adding that Chinese career diplomats and businessmen represented the same risk as intelligence officers.

China, it says, has three aims:

using Czech entities to undermine EU unity
intelligence activity aimed at important Czech ministries
economic and technological spying

The report has led to a major spat between the BIS and Czech President Milos Zeman, who has made overtures to both Moscow and Beijing a centrepiece of his presidency.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46602735

...and from May 2017
https://observer.com/2017/05/vladimi...blic-spy-base/

PRAGUE—The capital of the Czech Republic is indisputably one of the loveliest cities in Europe. Having avoided major bombing or combat in the Second World War, unlike most cities in the region, Prague remains a Baroque jewel, a stunning example of effective and charming urban planning in the late Habsburg Empire. It’s no wonder that tourists flock here from all corners of the globe. As do spies, many of them Russian.

Since the mid-1990s, the Czech Republic has been something of a playground for Russian spies—and most of them are in Prague. It’s not difficult to see why they’re here. As a member of both NATO and the European Union, the country is a tempting target for the Kremlin. Prague is a great place to live and work, there’s a pro-Russian element of the population (even after the Soviet 1968 invasion there inexplicably are still Czech Russophiles), there’s a lot of Russian business going on in the country, and Kremlin operatives gained a solid foothold here just after the Cold War, when it was easy.