On the evening of Friday 22 July, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, deplored on behalf of the EU the Russian government’s decision of 20 July to add five EU Member States to the list of countries to which the measures provided for in the ‘Response to Unfriendly Actions of Foreign States’ are applicable.
These are Greece, Denmark, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia, which, according to the Russian government, have “committed unfriendly acts against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad”.
“The EU considers the allegations of unfriendly actions to be unfounded and unacceptable, and urges Russia to revoke all such listings”, the High Representative said in his statement. In his view, this decision is a further step by Russia towards a continued escalation of tensions with the EU and its Member States.
The Russian decision limits the number of personnel from these countries in Russia. Greece can employ 34 people, Denmark 20 and Slovakia 16. Slovenia and Croatia will not be able to hire employees in their diplomatic missions and consular offices.
Noting that the earlier decree establishing the list of so-called ‘unfriendly’ states was incompatible with the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, Mr Borrell called on Russia to reconsider its decision and to fully respect the Vienna Convention.
Furthermore, the High Representative reiterated his call for Moscow to immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and all other violations of international law, including violations of its own international obligations and commitments. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)