On Monday, January 23, Russia announced the expulsion of Estonia’s ambassador, condemning “total Russophobiafrom Tallinn, following the expulsion of 21 Russian diplomats and other employees of the Russian embassy earlier in January.
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“The Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia will leave Russia on February 7, 2023This is stated in the press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which indicates the lowering of the level of diplomatic relations to the level of chargé d’affaires.
The first ambassador to be dismissed since the beginning of the conflict
Russians and Westerners have multiplied the expulsions of diplomats in recent years, and more so when Russian forces launched their attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
But this is the first time an ambassador has been sent back to his country since the attack began.
“Total Russophobia” and “culture of enmity”.
“Estonia’s leadership has deliberately destroyed all relations with Russia in recent years. Total Russophobia and the culture of hostility towards our country have been raised by Tallinn to the level of state politics.“, he continued.
According to Moscow, the expulsion of Russian diplomats announced by Estonia on January 11 has been confirmed.relationship destruction policybetween two countries.
“The Estonian side bears all responsibility for the development of this situation in Russian-Estonian relations. We will continue to respond to hostile measures taken by the Estonian leadership– says the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Diplomatic background
Estonia, which supports Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and with which there have been many points of conflict since the collapse of the USSR, justified the expulsions by “achieve equalityby the number of diplomatic personnel of the two countries in Tallinn and Moscow, respectively.
Last April, Russia ordered the closure of the Estonian consulates in St. Petersburg and Pskov and announced their staff.persona non grata“. Moscow made its decision after the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expelled Russian diplomats after the attack in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Russia has deported several diplomats, in particular, 34 French diplomats in May, and 14 Bulgarian diplomats in August.
More information is pending…
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Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.