Russian citizens will not be allowed in Czechia without biometric passport

Starting Wednesday, 3 July, Czechia has stopped recognising non-biometric passports of the Russian Federation, and Russian citizens with such passports will not be able to stay in Czechia legally.

Source: European Pravda with reference to iDNES

Details: Jan Lipavský, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechia, stated that security is a priority for the Czech government, so it "will not wait for further sabotage".

Starting 3 July, Russian citizens with non-biometric passports will not be able to remain in the territory of Czechia, the Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

Czechia reported its decision at the meeting of the competent body of the EU and urged other countries to take similar measures.

"If a Russian citizen shows a non-biometric passport in Czechia, then their stay is illegal, and the consequence of it is currently being decided. Non-biometric passports are way easier to modify and falsify," Mariana Wernerová from the Czech Foreign Ministry’s communication department stated.

Lipavský added that Russian citizens willing to stay in Czechia must prove their trustworthiness.  

"In case of a Russian passport with non-biometric information, which was used by the killers [Russian agents who blew up ammunition storages – ed.] Vrbětice, will not be enough. I will also work on limiting the movements of Russian diplomats in the Schengen zone since it is another spying tool used against democratic countries," he said.

Background: Czechia has not been letting Russians with tourist and student visas enter since October 2022.

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