The Austrian authorities have made an announcement that they are going to expel four Russian diplomats as their behaviour was incompatible with their diplomatic status.
The decision that has taken place was confirmed by a representative of the foreign minister of Austria, as per the sources.
Moreover, the Foreign Ministry of Austria has also given confirmation about the recent transformation via a statement.
MFA mentioned in the statement, “The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria declares its decision to revoke the diplomatic status of three staff members of the Russian Consulate General in Salzburg. This is due to the fact that their activities have not been in accordance with their diplomatic status.”
Along with this, the four Russian diplomats have been announced the personae non-gratae, following Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The announcement clarifies that the affected staff members are required to leave Austria by the end of the month of April 2022.
According to the spokesperson of Alexander Schallenberg, the nation has joined the list of the other European Union countries who have taken the same measures in the same week, and the decision has not been taken due to Russia’s full-scale military operation on Ukraine.
According to the woman representative, unlike the other European Union nations, including France, Germany and Italy, the main reason for Austria to expel Russian diplomates is not related to the war in Ukraine.
Recently, the authorities in Spain have made the announcement that they plan to expel a maximum total of 25 Russian diplomats as well as the staff members of the embassy because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain named Jose Manuel Albares, mentioned in the statement that the decision came after they had represented a threat to the nation’s interests.