Russian diplomacy this Thursday announced the closure of the Swedish consulates-general in St. Petersburg and Russia in the Swedish city of Gothenburg from September 1, in response to Stockholm’s “confrontation policy”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced the expulsion of five Swedish diplomats in response to a similar action against Russian diplomats in April.
“The Russian side decided – in retaliation – to declare five Swedish diplomats ‘persona non grata’, including three subordinates of the defense attaché at the Swedish embassy in Moscow,” the ministry said. in a statement quoted by the French news agency AFP.
At the end of April, Sweden expelled five Russian diplomats for “activities incompatible” with diplomatic status.
“These actions by the Swedish authorities have only aggravated the state of bilateral relations, which have deteriorated to an unprecedented level, namely due to a ruthless Russophobic campaign in Sweden,” the ministry said.
Sweden’s ambassador to Moscow, Malena Mard, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry today to be briefed on the decision, Russian diplomacy added.
Sweden is a candidate country for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a decision made in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
For the same reasons, Finland became the 31st member of NATO on April 4 this year.
The trials of the two Nordic countries took place at the same time, but Sweden has not yet obtained the agreement of Turkey and Hungary to join the Atlantic Alliance.
The accession of a new country must be ratified by all NATO member states, founded in 1949.
Portugal is one of the 12 founding countries of NATO.
In addition to Sweden, Ukraine, Georgia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have also applied for NATO membership.
One of the Russian objectives in justifying the invasion of Ukraine was to prevent the neighboring country from joining NATO and thus the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance.
Before the invasion, Moscow demanded that NATO guarantee in the form of a treaty that Ukraine and Georgia would never join the alliance.
It also required NATO to retreat to pre-1997 positions, before the organization’s expansion into Eastern Europe.
NATO refused both demands.
Russia’s war against Ukraine plunged Europe into what is considered the worst security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The number of civilian and military casualties after 15 months of fighting is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, have admitted it will be significantly high.
Sweden condemns the expulsion of its diplomats and the closure of the consulate in Russia
Sweden found Russia’s expulsion of five Swedish diplomats and the closure of the consulate-general in St Petersburg, Moscow’s reaction to an identical measure taken by Stockholm a month ago, “deeply regrettable”.
“The Russian decision is very regrettable. Russia has decided to expel five Swedish diplomats who acted under the Vienna Convention and carried out normal diplomatic activities in Russia”Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said in a statement to the TT news agency.
Billström stated that the consulate was a “driving force” of cooperation between the two countries “in the broadest sense”.
“Today’s decision is a further confirmation of Russia’s negative political developments and international isolation,” he said.
Moscow recalled the “continuous campaign of Russophobia in Sweden” and the expulsion in April of five Russian diplomats, which exacerbated the situation of bilateral relations, “which have never been lower,” the ministry said. of Foreign Affairs Russian.
Source: DN
