The initiative originated in Prague in November 2023, when Czech authorities called for a ban on the movement of Russian diplomats they allege are agents of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) and other intelligence services. By June 2024, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania had joined the Czech appeal, submitting a joint letter to then-EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg publicly supported the effort.The proposal calls for limiting Russian diplomats to their consular districts, a restriction already implemented in Poland. Currently, 21 Russian diplomats remain in the country — a third of the pre-2022 number — confined to Warsaw, Gdansk, and Krakow."Any idea that makes it harder for the Russians to conduct intelligence activities in Poland and the European Union is justified," said Colonel Jacek Maka, former head of Poland’s ABW counterintelligence service, in comments for Rzeczpospolita.