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Russia expels two NATO diplomats

06 May 2009 13:02 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow â€“ APA. Russia withdrew accreditation from two Canadian diplomats working in NATO’s Information Office in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Lenta.ru. Russia decided to expel the director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow, Canadian Embassy attachÃ© Isabelle Francois, and a second bureau official, Canadian Embassy attachÃ© Mark Opgenorth. It was Russiaâ€™s response to the withdrawal of two Russian diplomats from the NATO Headquarter in Brussels. NATO declared head of the political unit of the Russian permanent representation to the alliance Victor Kochukov and responsible secretary of the mission attachÃ© Vasily Chizhov persona non grata. According to the unofficial versions, it related to the spy scandal in Estonia.
The Estonian government accused the defense ministryâ€™s official Herman Simm in spying for USSR and Russian intelligence services. While working at the Estonian defense ministry, Simm delivered NATO secret documents to Russia. He was sentenced to 12.5 years of imprisonment.