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NATO to halve size of Russian permanent mission to alliance — Sky News

Currently, the Russian permanent mission to NATO in Brussels includes 20 people, and it will be reduced to ten

LONDON, October 6. / TASS /. NATO has decided to reduce Russia’s Permanent Mission to the alliance in Brussels by half, withdrawing accreditation for eight diplomats and closing down the positions of two more, the British Sky News TV channel announced on Wednesday.

According to the channel, this decision was made following Russia’s alleged "malign activities over recent years." It was clarified that currently, the Russian permanent mission to NATO in Brussels included 20 people, and it would be reduced to ten.

As Sky News noted, NATO made its decision after asking its member countries to compile reports on suspicious hostile activity they may have noticed on their territory. All the relevant data were collected last month, before the decision was taken.

The TV channel quoted an unnamed NATO official saying that the expelled Russian diplomats were allegedly "undeclared Russian intelligence officers".

An official statement from NATO has not been received yet.

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