Russia on Thursday announced that it would expel nine Finnish diplomats and cancel the authorisation of Finland's Consulate General in St Petersburg, said the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release on Thursday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia notified Ambassador of Finland Antti Helanterä of the forthcoming expulsions.
According to Russia, the announced expulsions are a countermeasure in response to Finland’s decision, made on June 6, to expel nine members of the personnel at the Embassy of Russia in Helsinki.
These Russian officials were engaged in intelligence gathering activities and expelled from Finland based on the fact that they acted in a manner contrary to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The expulsion decision made by Russia has no relation to the activities of the persons who have worked in Finland's diplomatic missions in Russia.
The Finnish authority, did not divulge the identity of the embassy staff to be expelled from Russia as it is not public information.
At the same time, Russia announced that it would withdraw its support for the activities of Finland's Consulate General in St Petersburg as of 1 October 2023. Finland will prepare a measure that will be reciprocal in nature.
Finnish Ambassador at the meeting with Russian Foreign Ministry called for a rapid solution to the ongoing banking problems faced by Finland’s diplomatic missions in Russia.
Earlier, in April, 2023, Russia has frozen the bank accounts of the Finnish missions in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
- Russia
- Expels
- Finnish
- Diplomats
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
