Greece protests to Russian ambassador over expulsion of diplomats

Greece filed a demarche with the Russian ambassador in Athens on Friday, over the expulsion of eight Greek diplomats from Russia.

The demarche was presented by the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry's secretary general, the ministry said in a statement, adding that the Russian action was out of proportion to the measures Greece had announced against specific Russian diplomats. The Russians had been expelled as personae non gratae due to the activity they had carried out which contravened the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the ministry said.

The expulsion of the Greek diplomats, on the other hand, had no substantive basis other than to serve as disproportionate retaliation, the ministry said, while underlining that in no way did the Greek diplomats violate the Vienna Conventions.

Finally, the MFA also protested over the content of recent statements by Russian officials who it said ought to avoid generalizations and expressing accusations against Greece that cannot be verified.