BRUSSELS, April 5. /TASS/. The EU declared 19 employees of the Russian mission to the Union personae non gratae, according to the European External Action Service, published Tuesday.

"Based on the decision by High Representative Josep Borrell, 19 members of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the EU in Brussels have been declared personae non-gratae for engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status," the statement reads.

Since February 24, Western countries have declared a total of 329 Russian diplomats personae non gratae, about 2.5 times more than during the previous major expulsion of diplomatic staffers over the Skripal case in 2018.

The largest groups of diplomats were expelled from Poland (45), Germany (40), Slovakia (35), France (35), and Italy (30). Also, employees of Russian diplomatic missions were declared personae non gratae by Belgium (21), the Netherlands (17), Denmark (15), Estonia (14) Bulgaria (13), North Macedonia (5), Ireland (4), Lithuania (4), Latvia (16), Sweden (3), Estonia (17), Montenegro (1) and the Czech Republic (1). The United States expelled the Russian embassy’s minister-counsellor, and declared 12 employees of the Russian mission to the UN personae non gratae. Slovenia also decided to reduce the Russian embassy’s staff.

Riga and Vilnius have downgraded the level of Moscow's diplomatic representation. Lithuania shut down Russian Consulate-General in Klaipeda; Latvia shut down consulates general in Liepaja and Daugavpils, while Estonia shut down the consulate in Narva and the office in Tartu.