STOCKHOLM, February 8. /TASS/. The Swedish Foreign Ministry is expelling a Russian diplomat in response to the expulsion of St. Petersburg’s Swedish Consulate General staffer for attending illegal protest rallies on January 23, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde wrote via Twitter Monday.

"We have informed the Russian Ambassador that a person from the Russian embassy is asked to leave Sweden. This is a clear response to the unacceptable decision to expel a Swedish diplomat who was only preforming his duties," she wrote.

On February 5, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed that the Swedish, German and Polish diplomats who took part in unauthorized protest rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg on January 23 are expelled from the country. Representatives of these countries’ embassies were summoned to the Russian ministry and handed notes of protest.