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March 30, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
Over 100 Russia diplomats sent home as standoff over spy poisoning deepens
to send home 13, far more than any of the other 19 countries that acted on March 26.
"Responding to the cynical chemical attack in Salisbury, acting in a spirit of solidarity with our British partners and transatlantic allies and in coordination with the EU countries, Ukraine has decided to expel 13 of the few remaining Russian diplomats from Ukrainian territory, even consider- ing that, as is well known, our diplomatic relations with Russia have de facto been frozen," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
Of the EU countries, the expulsions are as fol- lows: France, Germany and Poland (four each); Czech Republic and Lithuania (three each); Den- mark, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (two each); Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Roma- nia and Sweden (one each). Canada is to expel four diplomats, and turn down applications to take posts in the country from three others, Albania is kicking out two and Norway one.
Nato joined the wave of expulsions later, announc- ing on March 27 it would expel seven Russian diplomats. “I have today withdrawn the accredita- tion of seven staff at the Russian Mission to Nato. I will also deny the pending accreditation request for three others. And the North Atlantic Council has reduced the maximum size of the Russian mission to Nato by ten people, in line with my de-
cision,” Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference.
“This sends a clear message to Russia that there are costs and consequences for its unacceptable and dangerous pattern of behaviour,” he added.
Stoltenberg did, however, add that the move did not entail a change of the alliance’s two-pronged approach to Russia, which combines “strong de- terrence and defence and dialogue”.
“This is a response, this is a clear message, but this is not a change of our policy. We will continue to work for meaningful political dialogue with Russia,” he stressed.
Several other EU member states including former Russian ally turned Nato enthusiast Montenegro, plus Belgium, Hungary, Macedonia and Moldova, also announced expulsions in the following days. On the other hand Bulgaria, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council but is eco- nomically dependent on Russia, is still dithering over what course of action to take.
Following the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, who both remain in a stable but critical condition in hospital, the UK determined that the Soviet-era nerve agent used, novichok, had either been used in an attack authorised
by the Russian state or had been allowed to
fall into other hands. With Russia failing to act convincingly to deal with that accusation, UK Prime Minister Theresa May ordered the expulsion of 23 diplomats from Russia’s London embassy
in mid-March, stating that they were involved
in intelligence activities.
However, the rest of Europe and the US were slow to follow up on the UK’s move, triggering