Norway announced on Thursday the expulsion of 15 employees of the Russian embassy in Oslo suspected of espionage, at the risk of reducing almost to nothing bilateral relations that were once close but which have deteriorated sharply due to the war in Ukraine.
Moscow's reaction cannot be expected: denouncing a "new extremely unfriendly decision", the Russian embassy has already promised "a response".
A member of NATO whose borders it guards against Russia in the Far North, this Scandinavian country explained the expulsions by "the new geopolitical deal (which) has generated, in terms of espionage, an increased threat from of Russia".
"These 15 intelligence officers are declared undesirable because they are carrying out activities that are incompatible with their diplomatic status," Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.
Present in Norway under diplomatic cover, the 15 Russians - in quarantine stationed at the embassy - will have to leave the territory "soon".
Their activity represented a "threat to Norwegian interests" and was closely monitored "over time", said Ms. Huitfeldt during a press conference, without specifying what they are actually accused of.
According to the Verdens Gang (VG) newspaper, they worked for the Russian SVR (foreign intelligence) and military intelligence (GRU).
Contacted by AFP, the Norwegian internal security services (PST), in charge of counterintelligence, did not want to comment.
In their reports, Norwegian intelligence regularly singles out Russia and China as the main espionage threats against Norway, which shares a 198 km border in the Arctic with its neighbor Russia.
As is usually the case, Russia could in turn expel Norwegian diplomats in retaliation.
"(Our) reaction is very negative," reacted Russian embassy spokesman Timur Chekanov in an email to AFP.
"This is yet another extremely unfriendly decision that will be followed by a response," he added.
Since the beginning of the year, several European states such as the Netherlands, Austria, Estonia and Latvia have also expelled Russian diplomats.
Like other European capitals, Oslo had already expelled three Russian diplomats suspected of spying in April 2022, a few weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
If, like last year, Russia were to retaliate by expelling 15 Norwegian diplomats in turn, this would have the effect of almost emptying the Norwegian embassy in Moscow, which has only about 20 members.
"I would like to stress that Norway wants normal diplomatic relations with Russia and that Russian diplomats are welcome in Norway. What we are doing today exclusively targets unwanted espionage activities," Huitfeldt said.
The two countries, which have long maintained close relations, particularly in the Far North, have seen their relations deteriorate considerably as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.
Although it is not a member of the European Union, Norway has adopted almost all of the sanctions imposed by Brussels on Russia.
"From cold to icy," noted a commentator on public television NRK on Thursday to describe the evolution of Russian-Norwegian relations.
04/13/2023 20:09:22 - Oslo (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
