Russia expels 3 EU diplomats to surprise Josep Borrell

Russia expelled three European diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden for their active support for Alexei Navalny.According to EU Observer, citing sources in the EU, Moscow has timed the expulsion of diplomats to the time of the press conference by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who held a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Feb. 5. At the very beginning of the meeting, Borrell told Lavrov that relations between the European Union and Russia were going through truly difficult times after the Navalny poisoning. "Our relations are obviously extremely tense now, and the crisis with Navalny is their the lowest point," Borrell stressed. According to EU Observer, the expelled diplomats allegedly took part in protests in defense of Navalny.The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed that diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden were declared persona non grata for their participation in unauthorized actions of protests. They will leave Russian in the nearest future. In connection with the incident, the Ambassador of Sweden, the Charge d'Affaires of Poland and the envoy of the German Embassy were summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Foreign Ministry expects that foreign diplomats in Russia will follow the norms of international law strictly afterwards.Having learned this, EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned the decision to expel the European diplomats and urged Russia to revise it.