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Berlin expels Russian diplomat in tit-for-tat move

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

BERLIN, February 8. /TASS/. The Federal Foreign Office has declared a "staff member of the Russian Embassy in Berlin persona non grata," the ministry’s press service reported Monday.

"With this step, the Federal Government is responding to a decision by the Russian Federation of Friday, 5 February 2021," the statement reads.

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.

"That decision was in no way justified," the German ministry noted, adding that the German diplomat was acting in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and was collecting information about the developments on the site.