Finland-Russia, the clash also involves the diplomatic apparatus. The Helsinki authorities expelled some diplomats from the Russian embassy in the Scandinavian country for carrying out spying activities on behalf of the Kremlin. “Finland will expel nine people who work at the Russian embassy and who acted as intelligence.” The government made this known in a statement, adding that “the activities violate the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”. The announcement was followed by a meeting between President Sauli Niinisto and the country’s Ministerial Foreign Policy and Security Committee. “The decisions are based on the assessment of the Finnish security intelligence service,” Marja Liivala, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told AFP. Supo said on Twitter that “this is a huge setback for Russian intelligence in Finland”.
Relations between Finland and Russia deteriorated after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to Finland breaking decades of military non-alignment and joining NATO. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said in May that Russia had frozen the bank accounts at its embassy in Moscow and consulate in St Petersburg. In February, Finland also started construction on a pilot project for a 200km fence along the border with Russia, as Helsinki fears Moscow could use the flow of migrants across the border to exert political pressure.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
