SIRIUS /Federal Territory/, March 5. /TASS/. The EU envoys to Moscow have completely discredited themselves, and the society raises the question whether their further stay in Russia is appropriate, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview for TASS on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival.
Previously, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he invited EU envoys for a meeting to provide explanations ahead of the Presidential elections, but they refused two days ahead of the set date.
"This issue has emerged not on our initiative, it were not us who asked this question. It is our public, who learned about these circumstances from Sergey Lavrov, it is our public that started asking questions. What are they doing in our country anyway?" Zakharova said, answering a question on a potential expulsion of EU envoys.
"I believe that conclusions will be made, and I have no doubts that they have completely discredited themselves, both in our country and abroad," the diplomat underscored.
She noted that, earlier, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev called to respond to the rejection of a meeting with the Foreign Minister by expulsion of diplomats.
"I would like to say even more: actually it is their citizens who should ask a question of what [the EU diplomats] are doing in Russia anyway? Do you take part in events that only you like, or do you only take part in events of anti-Russian nature? Who delegated this to you? Who ordered you to do this? What kind of wild selection is this anyway? If only it was some kind of smart selection. But it’s anti-Russian, it’s stupid, it does not follow the interests of the countries and people they represent," the spokeswoman said.
She underscored that an envoy cannot attend "only the events that are the most interesting to their tastes and their liking," an envoy represents their country "in all its complexity."
"When an envoy is being invited to the foreign ministry, it is not a matter of their personal choice, whether to go or not to go, whether it seems interesting or not. It is their function, it is their functional obligation: to come and to receive information that they will have to relay to their home country," Zakharova added.
In this regard, she concluded, this is why the question of competence of European diplomats has risen, as well as the question of feasibility of their further stay in Russia.