THE HAGUE, March 29. /TASS/. The Netherlands has expelled 17 people, accredited as diplomats in Russian diplomatic missions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands said in its statement Tuesday.
"The Ambassador of Russia was summoned to the Ministry today," the statement says. "The ambassador was informed that the Netherlands was expelling 17 intelligence officers."
The grounds for the expulsion, according to the Ministry, is "the information from general and military intelligence and security agencies, which proves that the mentioned persons, accredited as diplomats in Russian missions, carry out clandestine intelligence operations."