The Greek Foreign Ministry today designated 12 members of the Russian diplomatic mission as disliked persons – personae non gratae – which implies their deportation, amid an international outcry over the atrocities in the Ukrainian city. Μπουκα.
In particular, the Greek authorities declared 12 members of the Diplomatic and Consular Missions of the Russian Federation, accredited in Greece, as personae non gratae.
The above were declared undesirable according to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Affairs and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Affairs.
The Acting Secretary General informed the Russian Ambassador earlier today about this decision.
Images of civilian torture before his death and descriptions Volodymyr Zelensky At the Security Council meeting yesterday, they have caused disgust and sadness in the international community, which is coordinating its next moves, with the aim of exerting as much pressure as possible on Moscow, through diplomatic isolation.
In this context, the one after another the European capitalsincluding Athens, are moving to deportations of Russian diplomats.
THE Denmark announced yesterday that he is deported 15 Russian diplomats for espionage. “This is another example of the brutality, brutality and war crimes that have apparently been committed in Bouka,” said the Danish Foreign Minister. Gepe Coffont He added that Copenhagen had found that the 15 intelligence agents who had been deported were involved in espionage operations on Danish soil.
Officials will have to leave Denmark inside in 14 days.
Similar initiatives have also been taken by several other EU countries, including France and Germany.
THE Germany declared unwanted persons 40 Russian diplomatsleading them into deportation.
Also the France decided to deport numerous Russian officials with diplomatic status, whose actions are contrary to French security interests.
THE Italy by decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio announced that it was deporting 30 Russian diplomats for national security reasons.
Di Maio added that “this measure, taken in agreement with other European and Atlantic partners, has become necessary for reasons related to Italy’s national security and in the context of the current crisis, as a result of the unjustified attack on Ukraine by of the Russian Federation “.
The Italian Foreign Ministry has clarified that it will not deport the Russian ambassador to Rome, Sergei Razov, to whom the decision of Mario Draghi’s government was notified.
THE Sweden proceeds to deport three Russian diplomats who do not act in accordance with international rules, according to Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
The reaction of Moscow
Against this climate of growing pressure, Moscow, which claims that the images of the executed civilians in Bukhara are fake products of Ukrainian and Western propaganda aimed at discrediting Russia, threatens retaliation: the representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova stated that its country will not leave unanswered “and that” the answer that will be given will be the proper one “.
It is recalled that the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Athens was carried out by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs during his tenure. Nikos Kotzias in July 2018.
The decision was made at the time as the diplomats in question were accused of illegal actions against national security, which constituted interference in the internal affairs of Greece.
Amid mass expulsions of Russian diplomats from Western capitals, Russia says it wants to maintain diplomatic relations with Western countries
Russia wants to maintain diplomatic relations with the West, despite mass deportations of Russian diplomats for espionage or national security activities, the Russian Interfax news agency reported earlier today, citing remarks by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister.
Grusco said that by “disrupting the work of Russian diplomats” European countries were harming their own interests.
The Russian deputy minister also said he hoped the West had enough common sense not to “play games around the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad” because it would be “like playing with fire” and added that Moscow had no contact with NATO because at the moment “there is nothing to discuss”, TASS reported.
Grusco also warned the European Union that it would “pay for its energy blackmail”.
European sanctions
In addition to diplomatic moves, European countries are moving forward with the fifth package of sanctions against Russia, while announcements are expected today from Washington.
Yesterday, the head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the European proposals:
«1. Prohibition of imports of coal from Russia, worth 4 billion euros per year, reducing another important source of revenue for Russia.
2. Complete ban on transactions in 4 major Russian banks, including VTB, the 2nd largest Russian bank.
3. Prohibition of access to EU ports by Russian ships and prohibition of road access to Russian and Belarusian transport companies.
4. Further € 10 billion export bans in critical sectors: advanced semiconductors, machinery and transport equipment
5. Specific new import bans, worth 5.5 billion euros.
6. Targeted measures, such as banning Russian companies from participating in public procurement in the EU and blocking any financial support, European or national, to Russian public bodies.
Finally, we propose more sanctions against individuals.
“We are also working on additional sanctions, including oil imports, and are considering some of the Member States’ ideas, such as taxes or specific payment channels, such as a guarantee account.”
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
