(ANSA-AFP) - MOSCOW, FEB 5 - Moscow said Friday it was
expelling diplomats from Poland, Germany and Sweden for
participating in unsanctioned demonstrations last month in
support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The move comes
hours after the European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell met
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow and described the
bloc's ties with Russia as at a "low point" over Navalny's
jailing. Borrell "strongly condemned" the action, a spokesman
said, while Sweden branded it "completely unfounded". The
Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that an unspecified
number of diplomats from the three EU countries took part in
"illegal demonstrations" on January 23 and had been declared
persona non grata. "They were ordered to leave Russia in the
near future," the ministry said, adding that Moscow expects
diplomats from the countries to "strictly follow the norms of
international law" in the future. (ANSA-AFP).
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