North Macedonian authorities have expelled one more Russian diplomat, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday.
"The information is correct," he said when asked if the country was expelling a Russian diplomat. "Since the information of this sort is confidential, I can’t go into much detail."
"When the Foreign Ministry receives confirmed and documented information about a behavior of accredited foreign diplomats which contradicts [their status] and the Vienna Convention, we are obliged to take every measure and action necessary within our competence in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect North Macedonia’s national security as well as security of the members of the alliance which we are a party to," Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told a press conference on Tuesday.
Several months ago, North Macedonia already expelled one Russian diplomat. In light of this, Russian Ambassador to the country Sergey Bazdnikin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry where he was handed a note, ordering the specified Russian diplomat to leave North Macedonia within seven days. The Russian Foreign Ministry then said that this was a hostile move, vowing a response.