TALLINN (Sputnik) – Russia’s Consul General in Estonia’s Narva Dmitry Kazennov and Consul Andrey Surgaev must leave Estonia till the end of May, Russian Ambassador to Estonia Alexander Petrov said on Friday.
"The Estonian Foreign Ministry informed us that the Russian Consul General in Narva and his deputy were declared personas non grata and must leave the country till the end of the month. Such decisions are not usually explained in the diplomatic practice. That is why we can only regret about this decision and regard it as an open unfriendly step that will have negative consequences for the bilateral relations," Petrov said as quoted by the TVN broadcaster.
Earlier Friday, Estonian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Sandra Kamilova said the Estonian authorities had ordered Kazennov and Surgayev to leave the country. Later in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the expulsion of the Russian diplomats would further deteriorate bilateral relations as it would not be left without an adequate response from Moscow
