The Netherlands expels about ten Russian diplomats from the country. They have two weeks to leave the country.
This was announced by Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra to the NOS TV channel.
This step was justified by the fact that the Russian Federation continues to appoint intelligence officers as diplomats.
As of February 20, the Netherlands is also closing its consulate general in St. Petersburg, while the Dutch embassy in Moscow will remain open.
“Itʼs important to keep embassies open as a channel of communication, even now, when relations with Russia are more complicated than ever,” Hoekstra emphasized.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands has decided to maintain a numerical balance of diplomats: as many Russian representatives will be allowed into the country as there are Dutch representatives in the Russian Federation.
- In March last year, the Netherlands already expelled 17 Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage. It turned out that they worked for the GRU military intelligence and the SVR security service and were mainly engaged in counter-intelligence and high-tech espionage. In response, Russia expelled Dutch diplomats from the country. In total, EU countries expelled about 400 Russian diplomats on espionage charges last year.