Russia declares strong 'retaliation' to Czech expulsion of 2 diplomats
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the expulsion of its diplomats would cause serious damage to Russian-Czech relations.
On June 5, Russian media reported that the Czech government had declared two employees of the Russian Cooperation Representative Office (Rossotrudnichestvo) “persona non grata” and ordered them to leave Prague within 48 hours. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that this would cause serious damage to Russia-Czech relations and that it would respond accordingly.
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| Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow. |
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the expulsion of its diplomats caused serious damage to Russian-Czech relations. The ministry's announcement stated:
“The Czech side acted dishonestly and unworthy, taking this unfriendly step. For no reason, the Czech authorities caused serious damage to the Czech-Russian relations... Such provocative actions must be responded to.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry intends to prepare an adequate response. Moreover, Prague's actions will be taken into account when building Russia's relations with the Czech Republic.
Earlier on the same day, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babish announced that the country had declared the acting head of the Russian Cooperation Representative Office (Rossotrudnichestvo) Andrei Konchakov in Prague and an agency employee named Rybakov as “persona non grata.”
According to him, the Russian employees were expelled not because they were accused of espionage activities, but because one of them sent false information to the Czech special agency about the threat posed to Czech politicians.
