Russia expels diplomats from Netherlands, Belgium, Austria in retaliatory move

MOSCOW, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia has declared 15 diplomats from the Netherlands, an unspecified number of diplomats from Belgium, and four diplomats from Austria "personae non gratae" in a tit-for-tat response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The ambassadors of the three countries were summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in protest over their decisions to declare dozens of Russian diplomats working in these countries "personae non gratae," the ministry said in separate statements.

The Dutch diplomats will need to leave Russia within two weeks, the Belgian diplomats were ordered to leave before the end of the day on May 3, while the Austrian diplomats must leave Russia before the end of the day on April 24.

The ministry also summoned the ambassador of Luxembourg, saying Moscow "reserves the right to retaliate" for Luxembourg's expulsion of an employee at the Russian Embassy.

Media reports cited the Belgian Foreign Ministry as saying that 12 Belgian diplomats were ordered to leave Russia.