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Estonia announces expulsion of Russian diplomat as sign of solidarity with Czech Republic

The Russian ambassador had been summoned to Estonia’s Foreign Ministry "to lodge a strong protest" in connection with the information about the alleged new details about the 2014 arms depot explosion

TALLINN, April 23. /TASS/. Estonia is expelling a Russian diplomat as a sign of solidarity with the Czech Republic, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

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"As a sign of solidary [with the Czech Republic], Estonia will expel a Russian diplomat whose activities do not correspond to diplomatic activities agreed on in the Vienna Convention," the ministry said.

It noted that on Friday, Russian Ambassador to Estonia Alexander Petrov had been summoned to Estonia’s Foreign Ministry "to lodge a strong protest" in connection with the information about the alleged new details about the 2014 arms depot explosion.

On April 17, the Czech authorities announced the expulsion of 18 staff members of the Russian Embassy in Prague, who, according to the Czech Republic, are officers of Russia’s intelligence services. Prague claimed that its so-called newly-discovered circumstances related to the 2014 Vrbetice explosion were the reason behind the move. The Russian Foreign Ministry lodged a strong protest with Prague over that step and declared 20 Czech Embassy employees personae non gratae.

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