Finland has decided to expel one official with diplomatic status employed at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki.
President Sauli Niinistö and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Police have announced their decision to expel one official with diplomatic status employed at the Russian Embassy in Helsinki.
The expulsion will be carried out simultaneously with the corresponding actions of other member states of the EU – taken in response to a nerve agent attack that took place in the United Kingdom in early March.
Well over a hundred people exposed to the military-grade nerve agent used in the attack against Sergei Skripal, an ex-Russian intelligence agent, and his daughter in Salisbury, the South of England, on 4 March.
The attack was immediately condemned by both Finland and the rest of the EU.
“Finland immediately condemned the use of a chemical weapon in the attack and, together with other EU member states, gave its strong support to the UK. The attack in Salisbury poses a serious threat to the security of the whole of Europe,” reads a press release issued yesterday by the Finnish government.
The European Council reiterated its condemnation of the attack at its meeting on 22–23 March, agreeing with the UK’s assessment that it is highly likely that Russia is responsible for the attack.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT Photo: Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva
