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Latvian Foreign Ministry declares Russian diplomat persona non grata

Earlier on Wednesday, the Latvian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Charge d'Affaires Oleg Zykov to lodge a protest against "the unacceptable and instigating public statements"

VILNIUS, March 27. /TASS/. Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins has decided to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Latvian Foreign Minister has decided to declare a diplomat from the Russian embassy diplomat persona non grata. The Russian diplomat must leave Latvia by the end of the day on April 10," the statement reads.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Latvian Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Charge d'Affaires Oleg Zykov to lodge a protest against "the unacceptable and instigating public statements" that the embassy had made "over a long period of time." The ministry claimed that the Russian embassy "continues to make inappropriate public statements aimed at discrediting Latvian public institutions and government agencies and incite hatred in Latvian society."

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