BAKU, December 26. /TASS/. Two employees at the French embassy in Baku were declared personae non gratae on Tuesday for engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, adding that the two French diplomats were asked to leave the country within 48 hours.

"On December 26, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Bouillon was summoned to the [Azerbaijani] Ministry of Foreign Affairs" to inform her about the decision, the Azerbaijani diplomatic agency said in a statement.

The head of the French diplomatic mission was handed a note of protest, the ministry added.

On December 23, a number of Azerbaijani media outlets reported that a French spy network had been exposed in the South Caucasian republic.