Russia today announced the expulsion of about twenty German diplomats in response to a similar measure allegedly taken by the German government, although it was not officially announced.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajarova, told Zvezda state television that the government had expelled “more than 20” German diplomats, in response to “another massive expulsion of personnel from Russian diplomatic missions” in that country.
In statements to the AFP news agency, the German government did not confirm the expulsion of Russian diplomats, limiting itself to indicating that it was “in contact” with Moscow “in recent weeks, for personnel matters.”
In addition to “symmetrically” expelling German diplomats, Moscow said it plans to significantly reduce the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in the country, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.
According to Moscow, the decision was communicated to the German ambassador in the Russian capital during the conversation that took place at the Russian Foreign Ministry on April 5.
A source from the German Foreign Ministry, for his part, told Sputnik that the country’s authorities “took note of the statements by the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.”
The German newspaper Bild, in turn, reported that, according to its data, 34 of some 90 German diplomats currently in Moscow must leave the country.
On March 25, the German newspaper Focus reported that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock planned to declare more than 30 Russian diplomats accredited to the country persona non grata.
According to the outlet, the security forces suspect that these people use diplomatic status to illegally obtain political, economic, military and scientific information, for later use in sabotage and the spread of disinformation.
On March 27, German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse denied plans to expel the Russian diplomats.
However, on the eve, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that Berlin has begun a further reduction of the Russian diplomatic presence in Germany, without revealing additional details.
Source: Ambito
