“I am sure that the Russian Foreign Ministry will recognize at least four employees of the Austrian embassy as persona non grata, and maybe more, depending on the situation,” the senator said.
At the same time, he recalled that Austria is not part of the NATO bloc and is a neutral state.
The interlocutor of RT suggested that when making a decision about Russian diplomats, the country could be under pressure from the European Union.
“Probably, she is being pressured within the EU.
Like, we still need to demonstrate hostility towards Russia.
They chose this option to demonstrate loyalty to the European Union.
Not the best for Austria I think.
The balanced position of Austria was more authoritative than the desire to keep pace with the decisions taken by the European Union,” Tsekov concluded.
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would respond to Austria's decision to declare four Russian diplomats persona non grata.
On February 2, Austria declared four Russian diplomats persona non grata because they had committed "actions incompatible with their diplomatic status."
In addition, the authorities asked two diplomats from among the representatives of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN to leave the territory of the republic.