The Czech Security and Information Service (BIS) reported that the country's intelligence services, together with colleagues from Romania and Hungary, identified and dismantled a Belarusian spy network operating in Europe. "In connection with this international operation, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to expel a Belarusian intelligence officer working in the Czech Republic under diplomatic cover," the BIS statement said.
The diplomat, who is required to leave the Czech Republic within 72 hours, is not named. However, as noted by The Insider*, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website section dedicated to the Belarusian embassy lists only one employee — diplomat Stefania Zmitrakovich.
The accomplices of the uncovered spy network included a former deputy head of the Moldovan Information and Security Service (SIB), whose name the Czech intelligence services did not disclose. According to BIS representative Ladislav Sticha, this person was passing secret information to the Belarusian KGB for a reward. Specifically, he met twice in 2024 and 2025 in Budapest with KGB intelligence officers. The suspect was detained on September 8 in Romania. According to the Romanian publication G4media, this refers to Alexandru Balan, who held the position of deputy head of the Moldovan SIB since 2016.
According to The Insider, as part of the cooperation between the intelligence services of Ukraine and Moldova, Balan was a liaison officer at the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for coordination purposes but was recalled for unsatisfactory performance, although he refused to return to Moldova. In 2024, he criticized Maia Sandu for the intelligence service reform.
* Recognized in Russia as a "foreign agent" and "undesirable" organization.