MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. In response to the expulsion of 18 employees of Russian foreign missions in the Netherlands, Russia declared 14 employees of the Dutch embassy in Moscow and one employee of the Dutch Consulate General in St. Petersburg personae non gratae.

"On April 19, Dutch Ambassador to Moscow Gilles Beschoor Plug was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry where resolute protest was expressed to him over the March 29 unfounded declaration as personae non gratae of 18 employees of the Russian embassy in the Hague, Russia’s commercial mission in Amsterdam and Russia’s permanent representation at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," the ministry’s statement said. According to the statement, "the ambassador was handed a ministry’s note which as a retaliatory measure to the Hague's unfriendly actions was declaring 14 employees of the Dutch embassy in Moscow and one employee of the Dutch Consulate General in St. Petersburg as personae non gratae. They are to leave the Russian Federation within two weeks."

The envoy was also informed of the inadmissibility of the Netherlands abusing its rights and privileges as the OPCW host country and of the necessity to strictly adhere to the 1997 OPCW Headquarters Agreement.