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1 Apr 2022, 18:33

Berlin plans to expel "considerable number" of Russian diplomats — daily

The reason behind this decision is that they are suspected of working for the Russian intelligence agencies

BERLIN, April 1. /TASS/. Berlin considers expelling "a considerable number" of employees of the Russian diplomatic missions to Germany, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday, citing sources.

The daily claims that Germany might act concerning the Russian diplomats like Belgium and the Netherlands have done recently. In other words, it might expel about 20 people. The reason behind this decision is that they are suspected of working for the Russian intelligence agencies. The federal government is still discussing various options.

The final decision, as the newspaper notes, should be taken by mutual agreement of the Federal Chancellery, the Foreign and Interior Ministries, but it is not still possible. The German government is not unanimous on the rationale of this step.

On Tuesday, some European countries, including Belgium, The Netherlands, and Ireland announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats in the wake of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Earlier, some other EU members, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, also demanded that Russian diplomats leave their territories.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country. Following this step, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and several other countries announced sanctions against Russia individuals and legal entities.