Russia expels seven members of Danish embassy

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On Thursday, Moscow announced that seven members of Denmark's embassy in Russia had been branded persona non grata and given two weeks to leave the country.

Russia's foreign ministry said it summoned Danish Ambassador Carsten Sondergaard to tell him of the retaliatory actions taken in response to Denmark's expulsion of 15 Russian diplomats and military help to Kiev.

"The kingdom's openly anti-Russian policies cause serious damage to bilateral ties," the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement.

Russia maintains the right to "take more steps in reaction to Copenhagen's unfriendly acts," according to the statement, which also stated that a diplomat from the Danish embassy was denied a visa as part of the retaliatory measures.

According to the Danish Foreign Ministry, Russia is removing seven members of its diplomatic mission, including four diplomats.

In a statement to AFP, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod called the move "a totally unjustified and deeply problematic decision".

"Russia no longer wants real dialogue and diplomacy," he said, noting that Denmark had expelled Russian intelligence agents and not diplomats.

Earlier,  Borrell stated at a news briefing that "today I decided to designate  persona non grata several officials of the permanent mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union for engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status." 

He added that the head of the Russian mission was invited to the European External Action Service to familiarize himself with the decision.

Slovak authorities said on March 15 that they had decided to expel three Russian diplomats following information from intelligence services.

Similarly, North Macedonia ordered the expulsion of five Russian envoys from the country, according to its foreign affairs ministry. 

These decisions mark the latest of Russian diplomats' expulsions from Western countries following similar moves made in several countries last month.