Russia on Friday expelled diplomats from three European countries for taking part in protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, after the European Union said ties with Moscow had hit a new low. With EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Moscow for a rare visit, Russia said it had declared diplomats from Poland, Germany and Sweden persona non grata for participating in "illegal protests" on January 23 in support of Navalny. The foreign ministry did not provide details of how they had been involved in the protests, saying only that Russia expects foreign diplomats to "strictly follow the norms of international law". Borrell "strongly condemned this decision and rejected the allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats," he said. In court Navalny and his lawyers said the case was politically motivated and a pretext to silence him.

Source: Mint February 05, 2021 15:55 UTC