Sweden expelling five Russian diplomats, Foreign Ministry says

Swedish flags fly in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm on May 29, 2020. Sweden's Foreign Ministry said on April 25, 2023 that it was expelling five Russian diplomats for actions that were incompatible with their diplomatic status. (PHOTO / AFP)

STOCKHOLM – Sweden is expelling five Russian diplomats for carrying out activities that were incompatible with their diplomatic status, Sweden's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Sweden has called up Russia's ambassador … and informed him that five people who are employed at the embassy have been asked to leave the country as a result of activities that are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Sweden expelled three Russian diplomats in April last year in the wake of the launch of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.

ALSO READ: Finland to join NATO, Sweden still waiting

Earlier this month, Norway said it was expelling 15 Russian embassy officials that the foreign ministry said were intelligence officers operating under the cover of diplomatic positions, the latest such expulsion by a Western nation since the Ukraine crisis began.