Montenegrin diplomat

Russia will send an employee of the Montenegrin embassy in response to the recognition of the diplomat of the Russian embassy in Podgorica as persona non grata, according to the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“On March 24, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Montenegro to the Russian Federation M. Shchepanovich was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note from the ministry declaring persona non grata of an employee of the Montenegrin Embassy in Moscow. This measure is a response to the [decision] made by the Montenegrin side on March 4 to declare persona non grata of the diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Podgorica,” the report said.

On March 4, the Montenegrin Foreign Ministry declared one of the diplomats of the Russian embassy persona non grata, as the actions of the diplomatic mission employee “contradicted the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” writes the local newspaper Vijesti, and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision of Podgorica “unfounded”.

On March 23, the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreev, was given a note about the expulsion of 45 diplomats from the country on suspicion of espionage. According to him, this is three-quarters of the employees of the Russian diplomatic mission. The ambassador also indicated that Moscow would respond to Warsaw's actions "on the principle of reciprocity."