BERLIN, April 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany’s foreign ministry has announced its decision to expel “a considerable number” of employees of the Russian embassy in Berlin.
According to the Focus Online portal, the decision applies to 40 embassy employees.
“The federal government has decided to declare a considerable number of Russian embassy employees personae non grata as they have been working against our freedom and against the consolidation of society day after day,” the German foreign ministry said, adding that the Russian ambassador has been notified about this decision.
“We will further toughen the anti-Russian sanctions, will expand our support to the Ukrainian armed forces and will reinforce NATO’s eastern flank,” it said.
The Bild newspaper reported earlier that Germany was planning to expel Russian diplomats, who were allegedly working for Russia’s intelligence services. According to its sources, up to 100 people could be expelled from
Germany. It alleged earlier that more than 2,000 people were working for Russia’s intelligence agencies.
These statements came after several European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Ireland said on March 29 that they were expelling Russian diplomats amid Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Thus,
Belgium expelled 21 Russian diplomats, the Netherlands – 17 diplomats, and Ireland – four diplomats.
Several more EU countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, also demanded Russian diplomats leave their countries.
Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador in Vilnius will have to leave Lithuania as Lithuania is recalling its ambassador from Moscow, the Baltic country’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, told reporters.
“The Lithuanian government, in response to the ongoing aggressive actions of Russia in Ukraine, has decided to downgrade the status of the diplomatic mission,” he said. “The Russian ambassador will have to leave Lithuania.”
The Lithuanian ambassador in Moscow “is returning to Lithuania in the near future,” the minister said.
The government has also decided to shut down the Russian consulate general in Klaipeda.
The minister said Vilnius informed its partners in the European Union and NATO about its decision. “We have invited partners to follow our lead,” he said.
Under another decision by the government, the Lithuanian ambassador that had left the Ukrainian capital earlier due to the security situation is returning to Kiev. “It will happen in the near future,” Landsbergis said. — NNN-AGENCIES
