Norway expels 15 Russian diplomats suspected of spying

COPENHAGEN (AP):

Norway’s government said Thursday that it was expelling 15 Russian diplomats from the country, saying they were suspected of spying while working at the Russian Embassy in Oslo.

Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said the move was “an important measure to counter and reduce the scope of Russian intelligence activities in Norway, and thereby secure our national interests”.

The Russians declared persona non grata “must leave Norway within a short time”, Huitfeldt said, adding: “We will not grant visas to intelligence officers who apply for a visa to Norway.”

The minister declined to say whether the government was acting in response to a specific incident, referring questions to Norway’s domestic security agency PST for details. The government said the activities of the expelled diplomats were “incompatible with their diplomatic status”.

“We are not talking about regular diplomats, but intelligence officers under diplomatic cover. Their activities are a threat to Norwegian interests,” Huitfeldt said.

Norwegian newspaper VG described Thursday’s expulsions as the most the Scandinavian country has ordered at one time involving Russian diplomats.

The Russian Embassy in Norway called the Norwegian government’s decision “an extremely unfriendly step” and promised Moscow would take “retaliatory measures”, which in such a case typically involve in-kind expulsions.