Lavrov says Dutch expulsion of alleged Russian spies a ‘misunderstanding’

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said the expulsion of four alleged Russian agents from the Netherlands in April had been a “misunderstanding”, calling their visit a “routine trip”.

“There was nothing secret about the trip by our specialists to the Netherlands, it was a routine trip. They didn’t hide when they checked into the hotel, or when they came to the airport, or when they went to our embassy,” Lavrov said during a press conference.

“They were detained without explanation... and asked to leave. It looked like a misunderstanding,” he said, adding that there had been no diplomatic protests over the incident.

The Netherlands said on Thursday it had expelled four GRU military intelligence agents in April for plotting a cyber-attack on the world’s chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague.

The men entered the country on Russian diplomatic passports on April 10 and were caught redhanded on April 13 with a car full of electronic equipment in the Marriott Hotel next to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Their passports and other details, including a taxi receipt for a trip to a Moscow airport from a street containing a branch of the military intelligence agency, were shown to the Dutch media.

Lavrov confirmed his office would summon the Dutch ambassador over the issue on Monday.