Russian Foreign Ministry to expel two Czech diplomats

Czech Ambassador to Moscow Vitezslav Pivonka has been summoned by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Prague’s actions will be followed by a tit-for-tat response, and that they will be taken into account when forming the line of Russian policy regarding the Czech Republic.

According to the ministry, two employees of Czech embassy in Moscow declared persona non grata, must leave Russia by June 17, TASS reported.

On June 5, the Russian Embassy in Prague received a note from the Czech Foreign Ministry, which informed of the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the Czech Republic. 

Earlier, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis declared the diplomats personae non grata during a press conference. He claimed that one of the employees of the Russian embassy had sent fake information to the Czech intelligence about a planned attack on Czech politicians. According to the prime minister, this person contributed to "the further deterioration of Czech-Russian relations."