Finland, which just joined NATO and has a long border with Russia, expelled nine Russian diplomats from Finland in June for “intelligence activities”.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Russia’s intervention in Ukraine at the end of February 2022 and Finland’s decision to break with a decades-old tradition of military non-alignment to apply for NATO membership.
“Nine employees of the Finnish Embassy in Russia and the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg have been declared persona non grata,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs added that the agreement to operate the consulate will expire as of the first of next October.
These measures were announced to the Finnish ambassador, Ante Helantera, at a ministry meeting in Moscow at which the Russian authorities expressed their “protest” against their country’s “anti-Russian policy”.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Urbu told the press on Thursday that his country was obliged to “start preparing similar measures” and mentioned the possible closure of the Russian consulate in Turku.
© 2023 AFP
“Award-winning alcohol trailblazer. Hipster-friendly internetaholic. Twitter ninja. Infuriatingly humble beer lover. Pop culture nerd.”