Denmark sending off 15 employees of russian embassy, who turned out to be russia's intelligence officers
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the expulsion of 15 russian intelligence officers who worked undercover at the russian embassy
This is stated in a statement by the Danish Foreign Ministry.
"The current russian ambassador was told at a meeting at the Foreign Ministry this morning that the Danish government has decided to expel 15 Russian intelligence officers working at the russian embassy in Copenhagen. They will have 14 days to leave Denmark," the statement said.
"In recent weeks, the picture of European security has changed dramatically. With this decision, we are sending a clear signal to Moscow that we do not agree with Russian intelligence officers spying on Danish soil. They pose a threat to our national security that we cannot ignore," said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.
According to him, Denmark does not want to sever diplomatic relations with moscow. Therefore, the russian ambassador and the other embassies in Copenhagen will not be deported.
"The Russian ambassador is our main channel of clear messages directly to the Kremlin. We have used this several times recently, not least to underscore Denmark's strong condemnation of russia's completely unacceptable attack on Ukraine," Kofod said.
The russian ambassador was also told that the Danish government had condemned the brutality of the russian military against the civilian population of Bucha and stressed that deliberate attacks on civilians were a war crime.
To recap, on the eve of the German Foreign Ministry announced a decision to expel a "significant number" of employees of the russian embassy in Berlin. According to media reports, it is about 40 employees in the russian embassy.
After that, France announced the expulsion of 35 russian diplomats.
