Austria has announced that it is expelling four Russian diplomats for “acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status.”
The country’s foreign ministry did not elaborate on the reasons behind the decision but the language used is reminiscent of previous cases of suspected espionage.
“Two diplomats at the Russian embassy have acted in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status,” the ministry said in an official statement.
“They were therefore declared unwelcome persons (personae non gratae) in accordance with Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”
In April 2022, Austria expelled four Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated EU reaction after the discovery of alleged killings by Russian troops of Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
On Feb. 1 Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen traveled to Ukraine, where he visited Bucha and had a meeting with President Zelensky.
He handed over generators and announced the allocation of €5 million for the rebuilding of damaged energy infrastructure.
In turn, Zelensky called on Austrian businesses to abandon cooperation with Russia as an aggressor country and instead start working with Ukraine.
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