News item | 19-04-2022 | 14:35
The Dutch ambassador in Moscow was summoned today to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There he was told that Russia was expelling 15 employees from the Dutch embassy in Moscow and the consulate in Saint Petersburg.
This is in response to the expulsion by the Netherlands of 17 intelligence officers posing as diplomats at the Russian embassy in the Netherlands.
Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs: ‘We expected that Russia would now take countermeasures. Nevertheless, I regret this step. We are now going to see what the consequences are of the fact that so many colleagues have to leave Moscow and Petersburg.’
The employees concerned have two weeks to leave Russia. Ambassador Gilles Plug and the small team that remains will continue to carry out the core tasks of the embassy and consulate as well as possible, together with the local Russian employees.