07/10/2021 (Agence Europe) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed on Thursday 7 October the withdrawal of NATO accreditation for eight members of the Russian mission “who were undeclared Russian intelligence officers”. According to him, the withdrawal decision was not linked to specific events, but because the Alliance had seen an “increase in malicious Russian activity, at least in Europe”. “So we had to act”, he told the press conference. Mr Stoltenberg announced that he had proposed a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council to the Russian Foreign Minister in September, but that they had been unable to agree. The organisation has also reportedly decided to reduce the number of posts that Russia can accredit to the Alliance from the current 20 to ten. (CG)