Russia says it will expel three Slovak diplomats after three staff at the Russian Embassy in Bratislava were told to leave earlier this month, a move that media in Slovakia have linked to last year’s killing in Berlin of a former Chechen rebel from Georgia.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Slovak ambassador to Moscow was informed of the decision on August 31 and that the move was "based on the principle of reciprocity."
“A resolute protest was expressed to him over the groundless expulsion of three staffers of the Russian Embassy in Slovakia in August," the ministry said. "We regard this unfriendly step by Bratislava as running counter to the traditional spirit of constructive relations between our countries."
On August 10, Slovakia announced its decision to expel three staff at the Russian Embassy, citing the misuse of a Schengen visa issued by Slovakia's Consulate in St. Petersburg that led to "a serious crime…on the territory of another NATO and EU member state."
Slovakia's Dennik N daily reported at the time that a Russian citizen used a Slovak visa to enter Germany in 2019 and later became a suspect in the Berlin killing of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national of Chechen origin.
German authorities apprehended the suspect and prosecutors have accused Russia of ordering the murder, a charge that Moscow denies.
The investigative website Bellingcat earlier named the suspect as a Russian citizen, Vadim Krasikov, saying he was a contract killer who grew up in Kazakhstan.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus on August 11 welcomed Slovakia’s decision to expel the Russian diplomats, saying it “has sent a clear signal that it will not tolerate Russia’s politically motivated criminal acts.”
It is the second expulsion of European diplomats by Moscow in a week.
A Norwegian diplomat was forced to leave Russia on August 28 in response to Norway's removal of a Russian diplomat linked to the case of a Norwegian national recently arrested on espionage charges.
An Austrian diplomat was sent home on August 24 in another tit-for-tat move after Vienna announced the expulsion of a Russian diplomat reported to be involved in economic espionage.
