Slovakia decided to expel three Russian diplomats, since they were under suspicion of the country’s special services and “conducted activities that did not correspond to diplomatic activities.” This was announced to the Czech edition of Respekt on April 23 by the head of the Slovak Foreign Ministry Ivan Korchok.
“As elsewhere, in Slovakia, special services monitor the work of foreign special services on our territory,” the high-ranking diplomat said.
Information about the activities of Russian diplomats in Bratislava has been received by the country’s Foreign Ministry in recent days, he said.
“And a political decision was made. As for the timing, of course, this is also related to what is happening in your country, but we acted on the basis of information from our special services, ”the Slovak minister emphasized.
The expulsion of Russian diplomats is a sovereign decision of Slovakia, at the same time the country showed solidarity with the Czech Republic, he added.
Speaking about the Czech Republic’s statement about suspicions against Russia, Korchok noted that he trusts Prague. According to him, the statements of the Czech authorities are “absolutely relevant” for him.
On April 22, Slovakia announced the expulsion of three employees of the Russian embassy. Prime Minister of the Republic Eduard Heger said that the decision was made in solidarity with the Czech Republic, Gazeta.ru reminds.
On April 23, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania also announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic. The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, said that the diplomats of these countries may already begin to guess which of them will leave Moscow in the near future.
Relations between Russia and the Czech Republic have become strained after the Prime Minister of the country, Andrei Babis, announced on April 17 that the Russian special services were suspected of being involved in an explosion at an ammunition depot in Vrbetica in 2014. On the same day, the Czech Republic decided to expel 18 Russian diplomats.
Moscow, in response, announced 20 employees of the Czech embassy in the Russian Federation persona non grata. The accusations in Russia were categorically denied, and the fact that Prague does not publish a report on the explosion, Zakharova called evidence of a lie. In the Czech Republic, the reaction of the Russian side was called stronger than expected.
Then the Czech Republic again announced a reduction in the number of the Russian diplomatic mission, Moscow responded in a mirror-like manner.
As indicated in the department, by May 31 in the embassies of the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation will remain on seven diplomats, 25 technical staff and 19 people received locally.
On April 20, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that statements about Russia’s involvement in the explosion are unfounded and destructive to bilateral relations.