Stockholm expels five Russian diplomats
“Their activities on our territory have been incompatible with their diplomatic status,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said to SVT.
Sweden do what Norway did two weeks ago and shows a group of Russian intelligence operatives the door. The five diplomats are not named.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has not yet commented on the announcement by Stockholm but has previously said such cases are mirrored.
“Sweden has today informed Russia’s Ambassador Viktor Tatarintsev and informed him that five persons employed with the embassy should leave the country because their activities are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations,” said Tobias Billström in an interview with the Swedish broadcaster.
According to the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) every third Russian diplomat in the country is working for some of the Russian secret services.
On April 13, Norway informed the Russian Ambassador that 15 of his diplomats in Oslo are unwanted in the country because they were intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: U.S. report claims Trudeau told NATO Canada will never meet military spending target, CBC News
China: Satellite imagery reveals construction progress on new Chinese Antarctic base, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Russian cyber attacks, espionage pose growing threat to Finnish national security, Yle news
Greenland: Growing focus on Arctic puts Greenland at higher risk of cyber attacks: assessment, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: Iceland authorizes U.S. submarine service visits, Eye on the Arct
Norway: Expelled ‘diplomats’ left Norway via Kirkenes and Istanbul, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Russian Arctic rescue exercise attended by observers from Iran and Saudi Arabia, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Russian spy ships surveying Nordic energy infrastructure, Radio Sweden
United States: U.S. nominates Alaskan as first Arctic ambassador, Eye on the Arctic
