Russia to expel Slovakia’s diplomat too

The Russian Foreign Ministry considers the expulsion of its diplomat from Slovakia a hostile attack and will react based on the principle of reciprocity, wrote the Ria.ru portal. The stance came as Slovakia confirmed on Wednesday that in November it had expelled a Russian diplomat who was carrying out activities that were not in line with how a diplomat in a EU and NATO member state should behave. The Slovak Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the Russian Foreign Ministry's reaction. Slovak President Andrej Kiska considers it natural for Slovakia to expel instantly from the country any foreign spy who acts against Slovak interests, all the more so when such a person and the state that sent him are taking advantage of diplomatic privileges and immunity under international law. Slovakia had been refusing to take this step in recent months. In contrast, almost 20 countries expelled Russian diplomats after a former Russian spy was poisoned in the UK in March, wrote the Denník N daily. It also adds that the last time Slovakia expelled a Russian diplomat was in 2004.