Updated on 4/7/2022 at 8:51 am
- Austria announces the expulsion of several Russian diplomats.
- The people must leave the country by April 12.
After several days of hesitation, it also closes Austria the European sanctions against Russian diplomats. Like a spokeswoman for the foreign minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) announced on Thursday that the diplomatic status of three members of the Russian Embassy in Vienna and one member of the Consulate General in Salzburg will be revoked. The persons must leave Austria by April 12 at the latest.
The people had taken actions incompatible with the Vienna Convention, it said, alluding to secret service activities. On Tuesday evening, Schallenberg emphasized in the “ZiB2” that he still had no means of expulsion. At the same time, he emphasized that he wanted to act if there were “strong indications” of corresponding violations by diplomats.
The current decision follows one day after the statement by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko that Moscow wanted to maintain diplomatic relations with Western countries despite the expulsions. In the “ZiB2” interview, Schallenberg expressed concern that the Austrian embassy in Moscow would have to assume the expulsions in the event of a Russian act of retaliation.
Also read: All current information on the war in Ukraine in the live ticker
Expulsions are only a symbolic step
The four evictions are just a symbolic step, finally had Russia 146 people have been bilaterally accredited in Austria to date. According to information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, Russia had 68 diplomats and 75 administrative-technical personnel in Russia Wien accredited and three career consuls in Vienna. If you add the Russian embassy staff at the international organizations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the current total is 290 people. Conversely, Austria has accredited 33 people for its Moscow Embassy in Russia. There are 15 diplomats, eleven members of specialist departments and seven administrative-technical employees.
After the Bucha massacre became known, a number of European countries announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats. The most radical were Lithuania and Slovenia. The Baltic republic even sent the Russian ambassador home, which amounts to a downgrading of diplomatic relations. Slovenia acted under Article 11 of the Vienna Convention, which allows for a reduction in embassy staff to the level of the sending country’s own staff. This means that 33 of the 41 Russian diplomats have to leave Ljubljana.
The first countries to announce expulsions on Monday were Lithuania, Germany and France. Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia, Romania, Portugal and the Baltic republics of Estonia and Latvia followed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Norway and Greece, which has traditionally been assigned to the Russia-friendly camp in the EU, also took this measure.
Schallenberg had domestic political support for his hesitation, which was mainly due to Vienna’s special status as the seat of international organizations. By Wednesday, only NEOS and the Greens had positioned themselves for expulsions, the SPÖ was cautious and referred to keeping diplomatic channels open. The traditionally pro-Russian FPÖ even said that expulsion would be “more than counterproductive”. (apa/mbo)
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Outrage over atrocities committed against civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha in the Russian war against Ukraine has not abated. Ukrainian authorities expect more victims in other places. Below is an overview of what happened during the night and an outlook for the day.