In addition, Ireland is expelling Russian embassy staff for “violating standards of diplomatic conduct.”
The Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats and Belgium expelled 21 on suspicion of espionage, the Czech Republic one due to involvement in Russian intelligence, and Ireland four expelled due to “non-compliance with diplomatic standards.” This was reported by “European Truth” with reference to the TV channels NOS and RTBF, The Irish Times and the Czech Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
Representatives of the Russian Federation suspected of espionage will have to leave the Netherlands within two weeks.
“These people have a 'diplomat' written on their business card when they are actually doing something completely different. We made this decision for the security of the Netherlands,” Foreign Minister Wopke Hookstra said, without elaborating.
Huxtra added that this would probably be followed by retaliation from Russia: the country would send Dutch diplomats.
The Belgian Federal Government is also sending 21 Russian diplomats accredited to the Russian Embassy in Brussels or the Consulate General in Antwerp. They must leave the country within 15 days.
According to Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes, the decision was made because of “the involvement of diplomats in espionage and influential operations that threaten the security of the country.”
The Czech Republic is sending an employee of the Russian embassy on suspicion of involvement in Russian special services. He must leave within three days.
“The Czech Foreign Ministry has informed the Russian Embassy in Prague that one of the embassy's diplomatic staff has been declared a persona non grata. The officer must leave the Czech Republic within 72 hours. Together with our allies, we limit the presence of Russian intelligence in the EU.”
At the same time, four high-ranking officials of the Russian Embassy in Ireland were asked to leave the country due to “non-compliance of their activities with international standards of diplomatic conduct.”
“Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, four high-ranking Russian embassy officials were asked to leave the country because their activities did not meet international standards of diplomatic conduct,” said Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin.
Earlier , Poland announced plans to send 40 Russian diplomats for espionage.
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