Austria has declared four Russian diplomats persona non grata over suspicions of espionage. This was reported by the Austrian publication Heute, writes UNN.
Details
Three of the diplomats worked at the Russian Embassy in Vienna. According to the Austrian Foreign Ministry, they engaged in activities incompatible with their diplomatic status. All three were declared persona non grata in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The decision also concerns a Russian diplomat who worked at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. He was part of the Russian delegation on military security and arms control. He was also declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Austria.
This is not the first expulsion of Russian diplomats from Austria. In the spring, the country had already taken such a step, and now diplomatic tensions between Vienna and Moscow have resurfaced.
At the same time, the Austrian Foreign Ministry did not specify exactly what actions the diplomats were accused of. No details were released regarding the information obtained by the Austrian security authorities either.