European countries began a series of expulsions of Russian diplomats after the start of the military operation in Ukraine. In March, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia resorted to such a measure. The authorities of some countries have accused employees of Russian diplomatic missions of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia recognized three employees of the Russian diplomatic departments as persona non grata, Lithuania listed four Russians, North Macedonia five, and Bulgaria ten. In response, Russia decided to expel four Lithuanian diplomats and three each from the Latvian and Estonian embassies. Zakharova responded to North Macedonia’s decision to expel five diplomatic officials that it was aimed at “breaking bilateral relations” and assured that the Foreign Ministry would take retaliatory measures.
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On March 23, Poland expelled 45 Russian diplomats and froze the accounts of the Russian embassy. As the ambassador to Warsaw, Sergei Andreev, reported, the local prosecutor’s office concluded that the money could be used to finance terrorism. Russia responded by blocking the accounts of the Polish embassy in Moscow, he said.
Later, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that 17 Russians would be expelled from the kingdom. He called them scouts who are in the country under diplomatic cover.
On the same day, the Belgian authorities decided to expel 21 diplomats who work at the consulate in Antwerp and the embassy in Brussels on charges of espionage. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney notified the Russian side of the expulsion of four people. The Czech Republic decided to send one employee of the embassy in Prague.
On April 1, Bulgaria announced its decision to expel the first secretary of the Russian embassy. The authorities suspected him of collecting information constituting state secrets and passing it on to the other side. A criminal case was opened against the diplomat under the article on espionage. Prior to this, Sophia recognized two Russian diplomats as persona non grata and asked ten more members of the diplomatic mission to leave the country.
Moscow has promised to respond to all unfriendly measures directed against its foreign missions.