The Norwegian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Russian officials are abiding by Norway’s decision to declare 15 Russian diplomats as “unwanted” in the country. All have reportedly left the country along with their families.
“Russian authorities had informed us that they would honour the Norwegian decision,” ministry spokesperson Ragnhild Simenstad told news bureau NTB. Norway had announced their explusions, the largest ever, on the grounds the Russians were actually intelligence officers engaging in espionage under the guise of diplomacy.
Newspaper Dagbladet reported that a total of 46 Russians, including the 15 plus family members, have left Norway in the past two weeks, according to a spokesperson at the Russian Embassy in Oslo. Norwegian officials are now waiting for a Russian response that’s expected to expel a similar number of Norwegian diplomats from Norway’s embassy in Moscow.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
