Vienna, Oct 23 (IANS) Austria has decided to expel four Russian diplomats accredited in Vienna, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said Friday.
Among the four diplomats, three members from the Russian embassy had carried out activities “incompatible with their diplomatic status,” and each had been declared “persona non grata,” said the ministry, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The fourth diplomat, who was from the Russian delegation to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was responsible for military security and arms control, and was also declared “persona non grata.”
As a legal term, “persona non grata” refers to the practice of a state prohibiting a diplomat from entering the country as a diplomat.
On the Russian side, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lubinsky said on Friday that a reaction would “inevitably” follow.
In July, Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that a member of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest had been declared undesirable (persona non grata) and ordered to leave the country within five days.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the Ambassador of Russia to its headquarters upon the instructions of Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Toiu.
“The summoning came as a firm response to the repeated violations of Romania’s airspace between 24 and 26 July 2026, during which the Romanian Armed Forces downed three drones that entered national territory without authorisation. The Russian diplomat was presented with fragments of a drone destroyed on Romanian territory, components which official prosecutor investigations have confirmed to be of Russian origin,” the Ministry stated on X.
During the meeting, the Romanian side expressed its firm protest against these “illegal and irresponsible” actions and emphasised the clear attribution of responsibility.
“It was stressed that it is absolutely inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace, which also constitutes NATO and European Union airspace. The Romanian side highlighted that the Russian Federation bears exclusive responsibility for all these grave incidents and for the deterioration of the regional security environment,” the Ministry said.
–IANS
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