Spain has expelled two Russian diplomats in a move that triggered a tit-for-tat reaction from Moscow, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. The two Russian embassy staffers were asked to leave the country for having "engaged in activities incompatible with their status," the ministry said in a statement. In diplomatic language, the phrase is usually taken to mean spying.
The statement said the embassy was notified of the decision "about a month ago." "In retaliation," Russia expelled two Spanish diplomats from Moscow, the ministry said. "The two governments believe the incident is closed," said the written statement read by a ministry spokesman. It said a scheduled visit to Moscow by Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez on January 17 will take place as planned. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the expulsions.
"We are not commenting on this information," a ministry source told the Interfax news agency. The newspaper El Pais said Spain's CNI national intelligence agency had provided "convincing evidence" of the diplomats' improper activities. "It was a significant matter," it quoted one diplomatic source as saying. The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks this month released US diplomatic cables that alleged Moscow and its intelligence agencies are using mafia bosses to carry out criminal operations such as arms trafficking.
In a briefing to US diplomats last January, a Spanish state prosecutor, Jose Grinda Gonzalez, alleged that Moscow's strategy was to use "organised crime groups to do whatever the government of Russia cannot acceptably do as a government", according to one cable.
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