PRAGUE — The Czech Republic’s counterintelligence agency said Monday that it helped dismantle a spy network being built across Europe by Belarus’ KGB, in a coordinated operation involving intelligence services in Hungary and Romania.
The Security Information Service, known as BIS, said the joint team of European agents identified Belarusian operatives in multiple countries and that one person operating under diplomatic cover was expelled from the Czech Republic. The Czech Foreign Ministry said the diplomat was given 72 hours to leave. BIS named a former deputy head of Moldova’s intelligence service as among those found to have passed classified information to Belarusian intelligence.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it executed an arrest warrant Monday for a 47-year-old suspect on treason charges. DIICOT said the suspect previously held management positions within Moldova’s Security and Intelligence Service, or SIS, and that investigators believe the person disclosed state secrets to Belarusian intelligence officers in a manner that could endanger national security. According to the Romanian agency, the Moldovan suspect met twice with Belarusian spies in Budapest between 2024 and 2025, and there is “reasonable suspicion” the encounters involved transmitting instructions and exchanging payments for services.
The cross-border probe is being overseen by the European Union’s judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, BIS and DIICOT said. BIS declined to provide further operational details while the investigation continues.
BIS Director Michal Koudelka said the network was able to take root in part because Belarusian diplomats can travel freely within the Schengen area. “To successfully counter these hostile activities in Europe, we need to restrict the movement of accredited diplomats from Russia and Belarus within the Schengen area,” he said in a statement.
The disclosures come amid sustained tension between the European Union and Belarus. President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russian forces to use Belarusian territory as a staging ground during Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and later permitted the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles on Belarusian soil. Western governments have repeatedly accused Belarusian security services of conducting malign activities abroad, including surveillance and influence operations.
European officials have long warned that foreign intelligence services often exploit diplomatic cover to recruit sources and move clandestinely through the continent. The arrests and expulsions announced Monday reflect heightened scrutiny by EU members of espionage activities tied to authoritarian states and underline growing cooperation among European intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Both BIS and Romania’s DIICOT said the matter remains under active investigation and that further information will be released as legal procedures permit. Eurojust’s involvement underscores the cross-border legal coordination required when alleged espionage spans multiple European jurisdictions.
No immediate comment was available from Belarusian authorities. The Czech announcement did not specify the other countries where suspected operatives were identified, nor did it provide additional identities or details of operational methods, citing ongoing investigative and judicial processes.