Austria expels four Russian diplomats

VIENNA: Austria said Thursday it would expel four Russian diplomats following expulsions by other EU members this week amid increasing outrage over the war in Ukraine.

The foreign ministry said it ‘had to revoke the diplomatic status’ of three Russians at the embassy in Vienna and one at the consulate general in the western city of Salzburg.

“The individuals have committed acts inconsistent with their diplomatic status and are therefore declared personae non gratae,” the ministry said in a statement.

The four diplomats have until April 12 to leave the country, it added.

Some 200 Russian diplomats have been expelled across the EU since Monday.

The expulsions are for alleged spying or ‘national security reasons’, but follow international condemnation of killings in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, where dozens of bodies were discovered after Russian troops withdrew.

Moscow has rejected Western accusations that its forces were responsible, suggesting the images are fake or the deaths occurred after they pulled out.

On Monday, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg had said he would rather that any expulsions should be discussed on an EU level first to have a common position.

The Alpine nation of nine million hosts several UN and other international organisations and currently has some 290 accredited Russian diplomats.

In 2018, Austria did not follow a number of other EU countries in expelling Russian diplomats over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain, stressing its neutrality. — AFP