The Baltic States Expel Russian Diplomats in Solidarity with the Czech Republic

essentialsaltes

Stranger in a Strange Land
Oct 17, 2011
32,794
36,089
Los Angeles Area
✟820,146.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said Friday they were expelling a total of four Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which is involved in a spat with Moscow.

The Czech government has accused Russian secret services of being behind a fatal explosion at an arms depot in eastern Czech Republic in 2014.

Prague has expelled 18 Russian diplomats over the allegations and is planning to eject dozens more diplomats and embassy staff in a move that is expected to bring retaliation from Moscow.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Hank77

Hans Blaster

Rocket surgeon
Mar 11, 2017
14,645
11,690
54
USA
✟293,945.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Private
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said Friday they were expelling a total of four Russian diplomats in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which is involved in a spat with Moscow.

The Czech government has accused Russian secret services of being behind a fatal explosion at an arms depot in eastern Czech Republic in 2014.

Prague has expelled 18 Russian diplomats over the allegations and is planning to eject dozens more diplomats and embassy staff in a move that is expected to bring retaliation from Moscow.

Prague has been a KGB/SVR operations center for decades with the Soviets/Russians have large numbers of "diplomats" stationed there. I believe the Czechs are having the Russians downsize the embassy staff in Prague to a level more similar to the Czech embassy staff in Moscow. (The Russian embassy staff in Prague is much larger than the Russian embassy staffs in other similarly sized E. European countries.)
 
Upvote 0

ThatRobGuy

Part of the IT crowd
Supporter
Sep 4, 2005
24,640
14,524
Here
✟1,196,003.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
Since Biden became U.S. President. :)

I don't know that a Biden presidency necessarily offers them much protection from backlash to be honest.

...if they think it does, angering Russia may be a gamble on their part.

It's been a long time since any president has been as hard on Russia as they should be.

It may be surprising to some folks (given the source of this article, NPR...not usually known for corroborating Trump's account of things...mainly because Trump lied a lot, so why would they lol)...but one of the few areas where there was some merits to his claims, was in his claims that he was tougher on Russia than many of his predecessors.
Is Trump The Toughest Ever On Russia?

As the article notes, in many ways, Trump was one of the toughest on Russia post cold war. Not in terms of his rhetoric (which often came across as flattering toward Russia), but in terms of actions by the administration.
 
Upvote 0