Russia expels 18 employees of EU delegation in Moscow

The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry stated: “As a response to the unfriendly actions of the European Union, 18 employees have been declared unwelcome and they had to leave the territory of the Russian Federation recently. ”.

The above decision was made after the EU announced expulsion 19 Russian diplomats on April 5. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, on April 15, the head of the EU Delegation Markus Ederer was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to strongly protest over the absurd statement on April 5, with 19 staff members of the Permanent Delegation. of Russia in the EU and the European Atomic Energy Community are unwelcome.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced that Mr. Ederer had been declared responsible by Brussels for “the consistent destruction of the architecture created by decades of bilateral dialogue and cooperation”, and pointed out the need for “strict compliance by the European Union with the requirements of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.

Polish and EU flags outside the Polish Embassy in Moscow, Russia, March 2021. (Photo: RIA Novosti)

In recent days, European countries continue to expel many Russian diplomats.

On April 15, North Macedonia announced it would expel six members of the Russian diplomatic mission. Earlier, Croatia announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats and 6 members of administrative and technical staff.

Portugal, Finland, France, Montenegro, Japan and others are also among the countries expelling employees of Russian diplomatic missions. All this is happening against the background of Russia’s special military operation to demilitarize Ukraine.

The European Union has criticized Russia’s decision to expel 18 of its diplomats, calling it a baseless decision.

Earlier, on April 11, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the expel diplomats Russia will not make Moscow change its position in Ukraine.

* Invite readers to watch programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!