The Czech Republic recently ordered most Russian staff to leave their embassy in Prague after discovering the involvement of Russian intelligence personnel in a 2014 explosion at an ammunition depot.
Showing solidarity with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia expelled a total of seven Russian diplomats. In retaliation Russia ‘symmetrically’ expelled seven diplomats of the four former Soviet-captive nations.
Recognizing the unity among allies that Moscow has been actively attempting to disrupt, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Baltic states were “hiding behind pseudo-solidarity” and called the Slovakian decision to eject diplomats as “false solidarity”. Until 1993 Slovakia was part of a single country, Czechoslovakia, a satellite of the Soviet Union.
This latest round of expulsions of Russian diplomats is only a tiny slice of the over 150 Russian intelligence officer who have been expelled from some 30 countries after their Salisbury attempted murder operation in 2018.
Ejecting diplomats for activities incompatible with a person’s diplomatic status or declaring them ‘persona non grata’ can be also be used to punish adversaries for transgressions other than spying. In 1978, Canada ejected 11 Soviets, including two ethnic Estonians for a bold but clumsy recruitment attempt.
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 7. mai 2021 paber- ja PDF/Digilehest)