The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared an employee of the Austrian embassy in Moscow an “undesirable person”. The person in question must leave the country no later than April 18, it said on Thursday.
The move is an expected response to the decision by the Vienna Foreign Ministry in March to expel two Russian diplomats from the country over espionage allegations.
The Austrian ambassador to Moscow, Werner Almhofer, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The ministry in Moscow informed him that a “decisive protest” had been sent to him by two employees of the Russian embassy about an “unfounded declaration” by Austria that he was persona non gratae (undesirable persons).
Moscow complains about ‘unfriendly gesture’
“This unfriendly gesture further complicates bilateral relations that are in crisis at the initiative of the Austrian side and damages the authority of Austria, which has positioned itself as a neutral state and a place for international diplomacy,” the report said.
The ministry also announced that countermeasures against the recent case would not be limited to the expulsion of the diplomat. What this could mean was initially unclear. Administrative intimidation against the embassy in Moscow would be possible.
Source: Krone
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