April 25, 2023
A general view of the Russian embassy in Stockholm, Sweden February 8, 2021. TT News Agency/Janerik Henriksson via REUTERS
STOCKHOLM, April 25 (Reuters) - Sweden's foreign ministry said
on Tuesday it was expelling five Russian diplomats for conducting activities
incompatible with their diplomatic status, saying the government took the
security threat posed by Russian intelligence gathering very seriously.
Russia's embassy in Sweden
declined to comment on the development.
Russia and Western countries have
engaged in tit-for-tat expulsions since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February last
year. Russia calls the invasion a "special military operation".
"Five people who
are employed at the (Russian) embassy have been asked to leave (Sweden) as a
result of activities that are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on
diplomatic relations," a Swedish foreign ministry statement said.
The ministry declined
to specify the activities involved, but said the Swedish security service had
reported that Russia had continuously engaged in intelligence gathering in
Sweden.
"This is a
security threat that the government takes very seriously," it said in an
emailed statement.
Sweden's Security
Service declined to comment on the case, but said it has long warned that
Russia used diplomats to spy on Sweden.
Concerns have grown in
many countries over Russian intelligence activities, with Swedish security
police singling out Russia as a serious threat to the
security of the Nordic country, which is seeking membership of NATO.
Earlier this month,
Norway expelled 15 Russian embassy
officials it described as intelligence officers operating under diplomatic
cover.
Sweden expelled three
Russian diplomats in April last year, while Germany, the Netherlands, France
and Belgium also expelled officials a year ago over alleged spying.
Europe has heavily sanctioned
Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, while Sweden's application to join the
NATO military alliance has attracted Russia's displeasure.
Reporting by Stockholm
Newsroom; editing by Niklas Pollard
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/sweden-expelling-five-russian-diplomats-foreign-ministry-says-2023-04-25/
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