Top Czech Spy Urges NATO Not to Push Ukraine to Make Concessions to Russia
The head of the Czech Security and Information Service (BIS), Michal Koudelka, has warned NATO countries that pushing Ukraine to make significant concessions to end the war will only embolden Russia. He said this in an interview with Bloomberg.
‘Russia will spend perhaps the next 10-15 years recovering from the huge human and economic losses and preparing for its next target - Central and Eastern Europe. If Ukraine loses or is forced to accept an unfavourable peace deal, Russia will see it as a victory,’ Koudelka said.
His assessment is supported by other European intelligence services. Germany's top intelligence officer, Bruno Kahl, warned last month that Russian dictator Putin would be ready to engage militarily with NATO by the end of the decade.
According to Koudelka, international law requires Russia to withdraw all troops, return occupied or annexed territories and pay reparations.
The Czech Republic is a strong supporter of Ukraine, hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees and organising ammunition supplies. Along with Poland, as well as the Baltic and Scandinavian countries, it is trying to convince other allies to continue arming Ukraine despite waning public support and setbacks on the battlefield.
According to Koudelka, a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 should remind Western countries that Russia is an ‘imperial superpower with imperial aspirations’ that ‘has absolutely no regard’ for its military losses and civilian deaths.
Since Koudelka took over as head of counterintelligence eight years ago, the Czech Republic has taken radical steps to reduce Russian intelligence capabilities and influence on local politics and business. The Czech Republic has banned Russian suppliers from participating in a nuclear energy project, reduced its dependence on its natural gas, and expelled the vast majority of Kremlin spies with diplomatic cover.
Unlike some other European countries, the Prague government has taken steps to make it more difficult for Russians to visit the country, own business or real estate there, and obtain Czech citizenship. Now, the Czech Republic is trying to convince the European Union to ban Russian diplomats from travelling between member states without visas as a way to further restrict intelligence activities.
In September, Koudelka said that Russia remains the biggest threat to the security of the Czech Republic and the whole of Europe.