VIENNA, Austria: Austria is expelling two Russian diplomats as it declared them personae non gratae for actions “incompatible with their diplomatic status,” ordering them to leave the country within a week.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg Wednesday said that the country has expelled two Russian diplomats and given them until March 19 to leave. He said they “have taken actions that are incompatible with their diplomatic status.”
Austrian Press Agency (APA) quoted Schallenberg as having explained that the two diplomats work at Russia’s embassy in Vienna, not at any of its representations at international organizations based in the Austrian capital.
Austria believed that the Russian diplomats were behaving in a manner inconsistent with international agreements, a reason often invoked in spying cases.
The latest announcement brings to 11 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled in the past three years in four separate rounds. It is not clear whether the expulsions are interlinked.
The country has generally been more reluctant than many other western European countries in declaring Russian diplomats as personae non gratae.
According to Austrian officials, some previous expulsions involved spying, but as before the ministry gave no specifics.
The Foreign Ministry in a statement said they must leave the country by the end of March 19.
Meanwhile, Russia has said that it will respond to Vienna’s move. The country’s Foreign Ministry called the decision “groundless”, according to state news agency RIA.
