Macedonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) issued a press release Monday saying it has decided to expel one Russian diplomat over the poisoning of Russian ex-spy in the UK.
‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs after close consultations with our EU, NATO allies, partners and in a gesture of solidarity with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has decided to expel one Russian diplomat over the Skripal case in line with the Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,’ MoFA said in a press release.
Illegal use of a chemical weapons violates the international law and affects on the security of all countries, the press release reads.
The United States and its European allies are expelling dozens of Russian diplomats in a co-ordinated response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK, the BBC reported. It is said to be the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history. Twenty-one countries have aligned with the UK, expelling more than 100 diplomats.
The United Kingdom earlier this month sent home 23 Russian diplomats -- after saying Russia was behind the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England -- and the following countries said today they, too, are expelling Russian diplomats: US - 60 diplomats (and it said it would close Russia's consulate in Seattle); Ukraine - 13 diplomats; Canada: - 4 diplomats (and it said three others' applications to serve in Canada); Poland - 4 diplomats; France - 4 diplomats; Germany - 4 diplomats; Lithuania - 3 diplomats; Czech Republic - 3 diplomats; Netherlands: 2 diplomats; Denmark: 2 diplomats; Spain: 2 diplomats; Italy: 2 diplomats; Estonia - 1 diplomat; Romania - 1 diplomat; Croatia - 1 diplomat; Finland - 1 diplomat; Latvia - 1 diplomat; Sweden - 1 diplomat and Albania - 2 diplomats.
