Russia condemned today the decision of Germany, Sweden and Poland to expel Russian diplomats, in response to a similar decision taken by Moscow on the fifth of this month.
"The decision taken by Poland, Germany and Sweden is baseless and unfriendly," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told "Russia 1", reiterating her condemnation of what she considered Western "interference" in Russia's internal affairs.
Earlier today, the German Foreign Ministry said that Berlin expelled a diplomat working in the Russian embassy in Berlin in response to Moscow's expulsion of a German diplomat last week.
"Today, the Foreign Ministry declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Berlin" persona non grata, "she said in a statement, adding," Russia has expelled a number of European Union diplomats, including one at the German embassy.
This decision was not justified in any way. "
They participated in a demonstration
On the other hand, Russia said that the expelled European diplomats participated in a demonstration in support of the imprisoned Kremlin opposition, Alexei Navalny, but Germany responded by saying that he "was merely fulfilling the duty to legally report developments where they occurred."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had condemned the expulsion of the German diplomat and diplomats from two other European countries.
In turn, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Friday that Russia's decision to expel diplomats from Germany, Sweden and Poland further harms Russian relations with Europe.
These developments come at a time when the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Moscow last week.
The European Commission defended Borrell's visit to Russia, saying that he did not know about the expulsion of the diplomats, except through social media, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the expulsion took place the day before Borel's visit.