Moscow: Moscow is expelling three Slovakian diplomats, Russia’s foreign ministry said Monday, in a tit-for-tat move after Bratislava expelled three Russian diplomats for espionage earlier this month.
The Russian ministry said it had summoned Slovakia’s ambassador to Moscow and told him three diplomats were now persona non grata “as a retaliatory measure”. Moscow also complained of “obstacles” for Russian overseas agencies in Slovakia and “threats to their safe functioning”. Slovak authorities said on March 15 that they had decided to expel three Russian diplomats following information from intelligence services.
Bratislava also said that it had charged two citizens with spying for Russia, after they allegedly passed on highly sensitive intelligence to Moscow concerning NATO and Ukraine. Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees visa-free after they fled the Russian military operation there.