UK warns Ireland's visa regime could be a 'back door' for Russian spies into Britain
British officials have warned that Ireland's liberal visa policy and the open internal borders of the UK-Ireland Common Travel Area could let Russian intelligence operatives reach Britain undetected, The Telegraph reported. Ireland has issued 14,000 visas to Russian citizens since the full-scale invasion, with a 90 percent approval rate, and a Russian national who enters Ireland legally can cross to the UK. MEP Barry Andrews, a former Irish minister, said Dublin's intelligence services are less sophisticated than Britain's and urged tighter screening of Russian and Belarusian applicants as Ireland takes the EU Council presidency in July.
Ireland may have become a "back door" into the United Kingdom for Russian intelligence operatives, British officials warn, citing Dublin's liberal visa policy and the absence of internal border controls within the Common Travel Area, The Telegraph reported. Ireland is one of only two EU member states outside the Schengen Area to run its own visa procedures, and it shares the Common Travel Area with the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man -- meaning a Russian national who enters Ireland legally can cross to Britain.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ireland has issued 14,000 visas to Russian citizens with a 90 percent approval rate, a volume British officials have flagged to Dublin. "Ireland doesn't have the most sophisticated intelligence services compared to the UK. The UK is worried that Ireland is a back door," said Barry Andrews, an MEP and former Irish minister for children, who added that there was "quite a lot of evidence of nefarious activities by Russia in Ireland."
Andrews warned that Ireland's assumption of the rotating EU Council presidency in July "puts a target on your back," and called on immigration officers to step up screening of Russian and Belarusian applicants -- including checking social-media profiles and conducting in-person interviews -- and to review the visa-issuance process.
The warning fits a wider pattern of Russian intelligence using third-country footholds against Britain. In May 2025, a UK court sentenced six Bulgarian nationals to up to 10 years each for running a Russian spy cell directed by the former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek, on Telegram and cryptocurrency evidence. European agencies have logged similar activity: three documented Russian operatives buying properties near military bases across the EU in February, and a May 31 BelPol investigation mapped more than 100 Belarusian KGB and GRU officers operating under diplomatic cover in 40 countries, many also tasked by Russian intelligence.