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Russian MFA lodges protest with Czech charge d'affaires over embassy employee

On July 29, the charge d'affaires of the Czech Republic in Russia Jan Ondrejka was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Czech Charge d'Affaires Jan Ondrejka has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to hear a protest over the attempted smuggling of potent substances by a Czech embassy employee, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said in a news release.

"On July 29, the charge d'affaires of the Czech Republic in Russia Jan Ondrejka was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. A strong protest was expressed to him in connection with a gross violation of Russian legislation by a member of the administrative and technical staff of the Czech Embassy in Russia - an attempt to smuggle potent substances," the Foreign Ministry pointed out.

"In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, the Czech side was asked to waive immunity from Russian criminal jurisdiction in respect of the said embassy employee to bring him to criminal responsibility. Otherwise, he will have to leave the territory of Russia," the Foreign Ministry said.

Aggravation of bilateral relations

Russian-Czech relations aggravated sharply after April 17, 2021, when the Czech authorities claimed that Moscow was involved in explosions at an ammunition warehouse in the village of Vrbetice in the east of the country in 2014, and expelled 18 Russian diplomats on the suspicion they were officers of Russian special services.

The Russian Foreign Ministry strongly protested to the Czech Republic over the step taken "under groundless and far-fetched pretexts" and declared 20 staffers of the Czech embassy in Moscow personae non gratae. On May 14, 2021, a list of unfriendly foreign states approved by the Russian government was uploaded to the official portal of legal information. It included only the United States and the Czech Republic.

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