Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
News

EU's Baltic states shows solidarity with the Czech Republic in diplomatic dispute with Russia

25 April 2021

The Baltic EU Member States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia expelled four Russian diplomats this week as a sign of solidarity with fellow EU Member State, the Czech Republic.

Initially, it was only the Czech Republic and Russia that had a diplomatic conflict. This week, several EU Member States became involved in the diplomatic dispute between the two countries. Also, Neighbouring Slovakia responded by expelling three Russian diplomats on Thursday (22 April). 

The diplomatic dispute is related to an explosion a Czech munitions depot in Vrbetice in 2014. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Andrej Babiš announced last week that eighteen Russian diplomats must return to Russia because the government has evidence that Russian intelligence officers were involved in the 2014 explosion in Vrbětice, which killed two people. The eighteen diplomats are believed to be members of the Military Intelligence Service, GRU, and the Russian Foreign Intelligence and Security Service. Moscow reacted immediately to the Czech Republic's action on Friday (23 April), imposing a limit on the number of employees of the Czech Embassy in Moscow, forcing dozens of people to leave the country. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Czech Republic's steps "irresponsible and provocative". Furthermore, the Russian Embassy in Estonia lashed out at the government's decision in that country, describing it as "unfriendly and unfounded".

This week, the Czech Republic asked the other EU Member States to join it in expelling Russian diplomats. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced the reaction of the three Baltic states on Friday. He spoke of an "unprecedented and dangerous incident”. Lithuania is expelling two Russians and the other two Baltic countries, one diplomat each. Neighbouring Slovakia was among the first to respond, expelling three Russian diplomats on Thursday (22 April).

In addition to concrete reactions from Eastern EU Member States, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also declared solidarity with Prague in a telephone conversation with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Thursday but announced no measures towards Russia. The EU and NATO have also expressed solidarity.

 

Source: commonspace.eu with agencies

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Situation in South Yemen strains relations between Saudi Arabia and UAE
Trending

Situation in South Yemen strains relations between Saudi Arabia and UAE

30 December 2025
The relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are increasingly strained as a result of the different approach of the two countries towards Yemen. Whilst both countries were initially together in resisting the Houthi take over in Yemen, the UAE subsequently focused on the South of the country, backing the Southern Movement (STC), which seeks to restore the independence of South Yemen. South Yemen became an independent country in 1967, at the end of British rule, and only unified with the north in 1990. The Saudi-led “Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen” on Tuesday, 30 December, said it conducted a “limited” airstrike targeting two ships “that smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen”. The ships originated in the UAE port of Furjeirah. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Coalition Forces spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said that two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the Port of Mukalla in Hadramaut without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition. He stressed the Coalition's "continued commitment to de-escalation and enforcing calm in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, and to prevent any military support from any country to any Yemeni faction without coordination with the legitimate Yemeni government and the Coalition. The Southern Transitional Council (STC), launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. The UAE-backed STC forces captured the city of Seiyun, including its international airport and the presidential palace. They also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth. (click the image to read the article in full).

Popular

Editor's choice
News
Situation in South Yemen strains relations between Saudi Arabia and UAE
Trending

Situation in South Yemen strains relations between Saudi Arabia and UAE

30 December 2025
The relations between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are increasingly strained as a result of the different approach of the two countries towards Yemen. Whilst both countries were initially together in resisting the Houthi take over in Yemen, the UAE subsequently focused on the South of the country, backing the Southern Movement (STC), which seeks to restore the independence of South Yemen. South Yemen became an independent country in 1967, at the end of British rule, and only unified with the north in 1990. The Saudi-led “Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen” on Tuesday, 30 December, said it conducted a “limited” airstrike targeting two ships “that smuggled weapons and other military hardware into Mukalla in southern Yemen”. The ships originated in the UAE port of Furjeirah. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Coalition Forces spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said that two ships coming from the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates entered the Port of Mukalla in Hadramaut without obtaining official permits from the Joint Forces Command of the Coalition. He stressed the Coalition's "continued commitment to de-escalation and enforcing calm in the governorates of Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, and to prevent any military support from any country to any Yemeni faction without coordination with the legitimate Yemeni government and the Coalition. The Southern Transitional Council (STC), launched a sweeping military campaign early in December, seizing the governorates of Hadramaut along the Saudi border and the eastern governorate of Al-Mahra in Yemen’s border with Oman. The UAE-backed STC forces captured the city of Seiyun, including its international airport and the presidential palace. They also took control of the strategic PetroMasila oilfields, which account for a massive portion of Yemen’s remaining oil wealth. (click the image to read the article in full).