Since March 18, the majority of the states-members of the European Union and NATO have been actively expelling Russian diplomats from their territories. Latvia and Estonia have done more – they closed Russian consulates. Thus, as of April 7, 433 Russian representatives returned home.
The mass expulsion of diplomats is not so much an act of solidarity with Ukraine, which Russia has invades and is destroying, but a demonstration that the world is beginning to understand that any relationship with the aggressor is fueling evil. However, this is not enough to stop Russia’s crimes. All visas, and residence permits must be sent home.
Ukrainian diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2007-2009) Volodymyr Ogryzko explains that a Russian diplomatic mission abroad, whether an embassy, a permanent mission to an international organization or a consulate, is usually a relocated office of the Russian intelligence services: KGB, FSB, SZR and others. And only a small part of this office is people who actually have to perform diplomatic or consular functions.
“Depending on the country, the number of spies within the Russian embassy reaches 70-80% and only 20% are diplomats who perform their direct functions,” states Volodymyr Ohryzko.
The explanation for the reason why Russia needs it is very simple. Russia wants to know political secrets, inherit other people’s property, and eliminate those who allow themselves to say something wrong about Russia. However, according to the Ukrainian diplomat, it is important to understand that even if Russian spies manage to steal something, they often do not use it at all. Because they are not capable.
Do states know about the activities of pseudo-diplomats in their territories? Of course, they know. Volodymyr Ohryzko gives an example: there is a person who is accredited by Russia to the UN, and he does not appear at the UN Secretariat more than one time every six months. It is clear that she did not come to work in this Secretariat at all.
“States are tracking such characters, tracking their connections, looking for who he / she is trying to reach, that is, conducting routine counterintelligence activities to identify those spies who may already be recruited and awaiting assignments, or looking for these so-called “diplomats” so that they did not recruit others. Such a game of “cat and mouse”. At the moment when the game is no longer needed, such events as the collective expulsion of “diplomats” home take place, “the ex-minister said.
The political action to expel diplomats that we are seeing these days is very revealing. But it is important not to stop here and move on. It is necessary not only to continue to nullify the diplomatic presence of the killer state, but also to reconsider the attitude towards Russians as such. After all, Russians, like citizens of any state, represent its values, culture and worldview outside their home. Does the world need to spread the worldview of murderers?
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