MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. The Russian government has included Norway in the list of foreign countries committing unfriendly actions against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad, the government’s press service reported.
"We adopted the Russian presidential decree ‘On the application of measures against the unfriendly actions of foreign states.’ The decree stipulates restrictions, up to a complete ban, on the ability of unfriendly countries to hire staff for their embassies, consulates, representative offices of state bodies and state institutions from among persons resident in Russia," the statement said.
In addition to the names of the relevant unfriendly countries, the government-approved list indicates the specific number of Russian residents that the diplomatic missions of unfriendly countries are entitled to hire. "So, according to the new order, Norway is assigned a limit of 27 employees," the cabinet pointed out.
The government recalled that, in May 2021, restrictions were imposed on the diplomatic missions of the US and the Czech Republic, and in July 2022 the diplomatic missions of Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia were sanctioned.
"The list approved by the government is not definitive and may be expanded, taking into account the ongoing hostile actions by foreign countries against Russian missions abroad," the cabinet stressed.
In addition to this list, which concerns the work of diplomatic missions, Russia maintains another list of unfriendly countries, which was compiled in March 2022 to implement the decree on the temporary procedure for the fulfillment of obligations to foreign creditors. It includes the US and Canada, EU countries, the UK and its overseas territories, Ukraine, a number of other European countries, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other states and territories that supported anti-Russian sanctions.
Norway’s reaction
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has not yet received any official information on the Russian government's inclusion of Norway in the list of foreign countries committing unfriendly actions against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad. However, this did not come as a surprise, the country’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.
"There is no reason to say that Norway behaves unfriendly towards Russia," the NRK TV channel quoted the top diplomat as saying. According to her, the current situation is due to the Ukrainian conflict.
In addition, the top diplomat pointed out that both countries, as neighboring states, are interested in the functioning of diplomatic relations and channels of contact, "not least in difficult times."
As the Norwegian Foreign Ministry has not received any official information from the Russian authorities, it has not yet made any further comments.