 |
North Macedonia has expelled three Russian diplomats, marking the third expulsion of diplomats from Russia since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia announced on Saturday, September 16, that the diplomats were expelled due to their "activities contrary to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," without providing further details on the nature of their activities, Radio Free Europe reports.
"On September 12, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a diplomatic note was handed over declaring three diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Skopje as persona non grata," the Foreign Ministry statement read.
The information about the declaration of the Russian diplomats as "persona non grata" was initially made public by the Russian Embassy on September 15.
North Macedonia's decision has been published on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and the post includes a comment from Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For Russia, the declaration of the three unwanted diplomats is seen as an "irresponsible and hostile act."
"On September 12, the authorities of North Macedonia, without explaining the reasons, declared three diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Skopje as 'persona non grata.' The irresponsible and hostile step by the authorities of North Macedonia will not go unanswered," stated the Russian Embassy.
In March and April 2022, North Macedonia had expelled 11 Russian diplomats, citing the same reason of "violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
In response to this decision, Russia had expelled a North Macedonian diplomat from the Embassy of North Macedonia in Moscow.
It is reported that there are a total of 19 Russian diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Skopje, including the Ambassador and two military representatives.