Russia Expels Three Slovak Diplomats

Russia Expels Three Slovak Diplomats

Moscow, August 31 (TASR) – Russia has expelled three Slovak diplomats in retaliation for a similar step taken by Slovakia in early August, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry announced on Monday.

Slovak Ambassador to Russia Peter Priputen was summoned to the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry on Monday. A resolute protest was expressed to him over the expulsion of three Russian diplomats from Slovakia in August, the Russian ministry wrote on its website. The ministry views their expulsion as “a move running counter to the traditional spirit of constructive relations between the two countries”.

Priputen was told that Russia on a basis of reciprocity has made a decision to expel three Slovak diplomats serving in Moscow.

Three Russian diplomats were expelled from Slovakia in early August for their alleged involvement with Russian intelligence services. Director of Foreign and European Affairs Ministry press department Juraj Tomaga said that Slovak intelligence services determined that the activities of the three diplomats were in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Furthermore, a visa issued by the Slovak general consulate in St. Petersburg was misused, and in this context a serious crime was committed on the territory of another NATO and EU-member state,” added Tomaga.