Operation Monaco (Akcia Monaco in Slovak and Akce Monaco in Czech), a new docudrama out in Czech cinemas next month, sheds light on one of the most elaborate Cold War operations conducted by the Czechoslovak State Security (StB), which led to the execution of two Czechoslovak citizens and the diplomatic fallout with France.
Directed by veteran Slovak filmmaker Dušan Trančík, the film is set to premiere in Czech cinemas on June 19, 2025, and has just released its first trailer.
The operation—code-named Operation Monaco—was orchestrated by the StB under Soviet guidance between 1948 and 1953. It targeted the French consulate in Bratislava, with the aim of fabricating evidence of espionage in a climate of rising Cold War paranoia.
The docudrama draws from the real-life events detailed in historian Jozef Jablonický’s non-fiction book Podoby násilia (Forms of Violence), and features a blend of dramatized sequences and documentary footage, including rare archival material and interviews with relatives of those involved.
The events depicted in Operation Monaco begin in 1948, when a young man attempting to cross the Austrian border near Bratislava is detained. During interrogation, it is discovered that his father works at the French consulate. Rather than imprison the man and his father, the StB recruits them.
What follows is a calculated infiltration: agents posing as a film crew gain access to the consulate, secretly extract diplomatic mail—containing asylum requests and other sensitive documents—and use it to fabricate a case of espionage.
The fallout is swift and brutal. Czech and Slovak citizens associated with the consulate, including anti-Nazi resistance fighters and former government officials, are arrested. Jiří Dlouhý and Vladimír Velecký are executed in 1951, while others, such as Karel Koch and Viliam Radakovič, receive life sentences. Only the French consul Étienne Manac’h and his deputy Michelot manage to escape arrest, fleeing the country just in time.
Trančík, a longtime chronicler of Slovak history through film, approaches the material with a personal connection: his family was tangentially affected by the events, and he was a personal friend of writer Jablonický, who would later document the operation.
“Few people know about what happened at the French consulate in Bratislava,” the director says. “This operation was part of the early brutality of Stalinism in our country—something that cost innocent people their lives.”
The documentary dimension of Operation Monaco is led by Bérénice Manac’h, daughter of the French consul, who returns to Bratislava to recount her memories. Her testimony is interwoven with dramatic recreations that mimic the texture of historical footage, allowing the audience to experience the tension and paranoia of early Communist rule.
Operation Monaco is a Slovak-Czech co-production between PubRes and Cineart TV Prague, with support from public broadcasters and film funds in both countries, as well as France’s Kolam Productions. Czech Television and France’s media development agency CFI also participated.
One Response
Interesting I never heard about this