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In the last hours, different European countries have expelled Russian diplomats from their territory for being considered a danger to national security and for carrying out espionage activities in their country.
One of them is Spain, which decided this Tuesday to expel 25 diplomats and staff of the Russian embassy in Madrid for considering that they “represent a threat to security” and as a sign of rejection of the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is finalizing the list of those expelled, which could be “perhaps a few more,” the minister, José Manuel Albares, told a press conference.
The ambassador, Yuri Korchagin, will not be included, because Spain aspires to keep the lines of dialogue and negotiation with Russia open, the head of Spanish diplomacy argued.
The German government also declared on Monday “persona non grata” 40 Russian diplomats from the Berlin embassy, also considered spies, who have been given five days to leave the country.
France, for its part, announced the expulsion of “numerous” diplomats from that country, considering their activity contrary to national “security interests.”
The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi di Maio, announced today from Berlin that the expulsion of 30 diplomats from the Russian embassy has been communicated as a risk “for national security” and following the decisions taken by other European countries.
Denmark is another of the countries that has decided to get rid of Russian diplomats, it will expel fifteen of them from its country, whom it accuses of acting as spies and being a risk to national security, announced Tuesday the Danish Foreign Minister, Jeppe Kofod.
“We don’t want spying on Danish soil, that’s why they will be expelled from Denmark now,” Kofod said.
The Swedish government on Tuesday announced the expulsion from the country of three Russian diplomats for conducting espionage activities, Foreign Minister Ann Linde explained.
“It is a matter of them not having acted in accordance with the Vienna Convention and having carried out illegal intelligence activities,” the Swedish foreign minister told a press conference.
Between France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Italy, the expulsion of more than 110 Russian diplomats has been confirmed in the last hours, to which should be added those expelled in previous days from other nations.
Other countries had already taken the decision to expel diplomats for espionage
- On March 30, Slovakia announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats accused of espionage activities. It had already done the same on March 14 with three other employees of the diplomatic legation, also accused of having committed acts of espionage.
- Ireland expelled four diplomats on March 29 because they had not carried out their activities “in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior.”
- Belgium decided last March 29 to expel 21 persons accredited as diplomats at the Russian embassy in Brussels and at the Russian consulate general in Antwerp for their involvement in espionage and influence operations threatening the security of the country.
- The Netherlands announced on March 29 the expulsion of 17 Moscow “intelligence officers” who were attached to Russian representations in that country “under diplomatic cover,” and argued that the presence of these spies posed “a threat to national security.”
- The three Baltic countries, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, expelled ten diplomats in an apparently coordinated action on 18 March. Similar wording in the three announcements suggests that the expelled Russians worked for Moscow’s intelligence services, and that these services were complicit in planning the invasion of Ukraine.
- Poland announced on March 23 the expulsion of 45 diplomats from that country. The Polish government said that they “work for the Russian intelligence service.”
In total, 245 Russian diplomats have been expelled in recent weeks.
