Russia expels North Macedonian diplomat in retaliation

MOSCOW

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday it expelled a North Macedonian diplomat in a retaliation move.

Olivera Chaushevska-Dimovska, an employee of the North Macedonian Embassy in Moscow, was declared "persona non grata," the ministry said in a written statement.

"On October 4, the charge d'affaires of the Republic of Northern Macedonia in the Russian Federation, Olivera Chaushevska-Dimovska was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where she was handed a note from the ministry declaring the employee of the Embassy of Northern Macedonia in Moscow persona non grata," it read.

The statement added that "the measure is a response to the unsubstantiated decision taken by the North Macedonian side in August of this year to declare a diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Skopje persona non grata".

On Aug. 17, North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry expelled a Russian deputy military attache for allegedly "inappropriate" diplomatic activities.

Earlier this year, North Macedonia already deported another Russian diplomat to show its protest against the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia Skripal in the UK in 2018.

The move was followed by a retaliatory move from the Russian side – the Russian Foreign Ministry on June 10 declared an employee of the North Macedonian Embassy in Moscow "persona non grata."