European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday 23 March that the recall of the EU’s ambassador from Russia for consultations was unprecedented.
“We have decided to recall our ambassador, firstly to inform him of the outcome of the Council and secondly to hear from him on what is happening in Russia. It is an extraordinary measure, one that we have never take previously”, he told the press. The EU ambassador to Russia is expected to return to Brussels as early as this weekend.
Some member states could also expel Russian diplomats. “I expect a number of member states to take additional measures on Monday”, 26 March, added European Council President Donald Tusk, indicating that he thought that “more than one country” would take measures “but not the whole group”.
“France and Germany are agreed that there will be other steps beyond the recall of the EU ambassador”, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “We will announce further measures in the coming days”, added French President Emmanuel Macron. Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland could also take measures.
Conversely, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz stated that he was not considering recalling diplomats from Russia. “We’ve decided not to do that because we believe it is important to keep political and diplomatic channels open to be able to bring pressure to bear on Russia. And I call for that decision to be respected, just as we respect the decisions of the member states that want to go further”, he announced.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said the recall of diplomats would heighten tensions between the EU and Russia. “I expect a rapid escalation of tension over the coming weeks because a number of states are going to start recalling their ambassadors”. “It’s much harder than during the Cold War. There were rules at the time. Now everyone is so hard that I’m not optimistic”, he added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial team)