Three Slovak diplomats will have to leave Moscow by May 5.
The decision comes as a response to the same step made by Slovakia on April 22, when the country’s representatives decided to expel three Russian diplomats in reaction to the suspicions that the Russian intelligence services were involved in the 2014 explosion in Vrbětice, the Czech Republic.
Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korčok (SaS nominee) sees the step as a reciprocal reaction to the earlier actions of Slovakia.
“Of course, it will impact the work of our embassy as we will miss the three people who need to leave the Russian Federation, but I believe we will manage the situation,” Korčok said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has proposed that the Czech Republic send its diplomats that were expelled from Russia to Ukraine.The Foreign Affairs
(Latvian Public Broadcasting) On 26 April 2021, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic met in a videoconference, at which the Baltic States expressed their collective solidarity with the Czech Republic in relation to the illegal activities of Russia’s intelligence services in the Czech Republic – namely Russia s suspected involvement in causing explosions at the Vrbětice ammunition depot in 2014.
The Ministers also discussed the relationship with Russia as well as the role of NATO and the European Union in it, according to a release from the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Czech President Miloš Zeman has so far remained silent on his country’s biggest diplomatic dispute in modern times after the government said it believes Russian GRU agents were behind explosions at a Czech ammunition depot in 2014.
Zeman – known for his pro-Russian views and for excusing the regime in the past – has said he will comment on the matter on Sunday.
A number of expressions of solidarity with the Czech government have already come from the EU as well as NATO. Incoming Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek meanwhile confirmed on Thursday that the Czech government will limit the number of diplomats allowed at the Russian Embassy in Prague to the number the Kremlin will permit at the Czech Embassy in Moscow.
A major crisis in relations between Prague and Moscow has reached a new plateau, with the Czech government expelling dozens of Russian Embassy staff following revelations of deadly Russian operations on Czech soil. Experts say the Kremlin is likely to retaliate further, while President Zeman’s first response is much-anticipated.
The most intense dispute between the Czech Republic and Russia in decades reached a new level on Thursday.
Following the revelation that Russian intelligence agents were behind deadly explosions in Moravia in 2014, and subsequent tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek said his government would impose parity of staff numbers between the Russian Embassy in Prague and the Czech Embassy in Moscow.