Austria to expel four Russian diplomats
Flag of Austria (Photo:stephengg/flickr)
Austria has declared four Russian diplomats persona non grata, the Austrian Foreign Ministry wrote on Twitter on Feb. 2.
“The four Russian diplomats concerned must leave the territory of the Republic of Austria within one week at the latest, i.e. by the end of Feb. 8, 2023,” reads the tweet.
According to the ministry, these are two diplomats of the Russian Embassy and two diplomats of the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
They have engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status and have committed acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement, Austria stated.
According to UK newspaper The Guardian, this is a reason often invoked in spying cases.
Diplomatic expulsion is a rare phenomenon in neutral Austria, which had close relations with Moscow before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Estonia and Latvia decided to expel Russian ambassadors and lower their level of diplomatic relations with Russia.
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