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MOSCOW – Russia said on Monday it was expelling three diplomats from the Slovakian embassy in Moscow in a tit-for-tat move after Bratislava expelled three Russians amid a growing diplomatic dispute with Europe.
“The Russian side, guided by the principle of reciprocity, decided to expel … three diplomatic officials from the Slovak embassy in Moscow,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Slovakia announced on August 10 that it was removing three employees from the Russian embassy for what it said was a “serious crime”, and local media cited a possible link to the murder of a former Chechen rebel in a Berlin park. last year.
German prosecutors accused Russia of ordering the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen who was shot twice in the head at point-blank range last year.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described Bratislava’s decision to dismiss its diplomatic staff as a “hostile step” that contradicted the “traditional spirit” of shared ties.
This is the third expulsion of European diplomats by Russia in a week.
A Norwegian diplomat was forced to leave Russia on Friday in response to Norway’s dismissal of a Russian diplomat for activities “incompatible with his status.”
An Austrian diplomat was expelled from Russia on August 24 in another tit-for-tat move following the Vienna spy accusations.
In June, Russia sent two Czech diplomats home in retaliation for expelling two of the workers from its own Prague embassy for spreading rumors of a poisoning scheme.
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