Montenegro declares Russian diplomat persona non grata

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro has declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata, follows from the statement of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic.

“A formal note about this decision, which indicates a seven-day period in order to leave the territory of Montenegro, was handed today to the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Vladislav Maslennikov,” the message says.

The Russian Embassy in Montenegro confirmed the receipt of a note declaring a Russian diplomat persona non grata, transmits TASS.

On April 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro declared four Russian diplomats persona non grata. The ministry explained that the decision was made on the basis of an assessment by the security authorities in Montenegro of the actions of Russian diplomats and Article 9 of the Vienna Convention.

After that, the Russian ambassador in Podgorica, Vladislav Maslennikov, admitted the possibility of Moscow’s asymmetric response to the expulsion of diplomatic staff, which is an “unfriendly step.” “Such actions always lead, on the basis of reciprocity, to reciprocal steps, as a rule, mirror ones, but there may be asymmetric options,” the diplomat stressed, adding that the government of Montenegro is under pressure from the US and the EU. At the end of May, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of the Montenegrin diplomat.

The authorities of Western countries began to massively expel Russian diplomats from their capitals after the start of a special operation in Ukraine. The Baltic countries have announced the closure of their consulates in Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by announcing the expulsion from Moscow of diplomats from the EU, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, etc.

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