Moscow's reaction to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic was more serious than expected, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said on Monday, adding that a deputy ambassador is among 20 embassy staffers expelled from Russia
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th April, 2021) Moscow's reaction to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic was more serious than expected, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said on Monday, adding that a deputy ambassador is among 20 embassy staffers expelled from Russia.
"The reaction was very strong, it was one step higher, because the most senior deported person was the deputy ambassador. The fact that he was expelled is a situation to which the Czech Republic must respond," Hamacek said, as quoted by the Novinky.cz news outlet.
Hamacek added that he plans to discuss Prague's further steps with Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
On Saturday, Hamacek announced the expulsion of 18 Russian diplomats on suspicion of being officers of Russia's special services. They were obliged to leave the country within 48 hours. Babis explained that the move was prompted by "a reasonable suspicion" that Russian military intelligence officers had something to do with the October 2014 explosion at an ammunition depot in the town of Vrbetice that killed two Czech nationals.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that the claims were groundless and absurd particularly taking into account the fact that the Czech government earlier blamed the blasts on companies that owned the warehouses. Moscow announced its decision to expel 20 Czech diplomats in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Prague and gave the Czech diplomatic staff time until the end of Monday to leave Russia.
