The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Czech ambassador in this capital, Vetislav Pivonka, was informed of the protest against “hostile action” against the staff of his diplomatic mission in that central European country.
The document said he was also informed that 20 employees of his embassy in Moscow had been declared persona non grata.
In a previous statement, the Foreign Ministry indicated that the Czech authorities had taken an “unprecedented” decision and “excuses that were unfounded and elusive.”
The Prague government accused 18 employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in that country of being part of the intelligence services in their country and of being involved in a 2014 explosion in military warehouses in the village of Vrbtis. Moscow warned at the time that the retaliatory measures “will make the perpetrators of this provocation realize their full responsibility in destroying the foundations of the normal development of relations between our two countries.”
He stressed that this measure is part of a series of anti-Russian measures taken by the Czech Republic in recent years and indicates “an attempt to satisfy the United States in the context of its recent sanctions against Russia.”
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