Image by www.albania.mid.ru
The USA required from the Albanian government to react in the same way as Western countries regarding the expulsion of suspected Russian diplomats after the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Great Britain.
Recently, President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the US, while Great Britain has expelled 23. The President of the European Council declared that 14 EU members are ready to do the same. In the meantime, Germany and France have ordered the expulsion of 4 Russians.
In a meeting with the socialist parliamentary group, Prime Minister Rama mentioned the coordinated actions with NATO member countries regarding this issue. He said the government will decide to expel a couple of Russian citizens, who have violated Albanian national interests.
Immediately, the Albanian Foreign Ministry, following the same line with the UK and US, announced the expulsion of two Russian Embassy diplomats–military attaché Vladislav Filipov and the Embassy’s first secretary, Alexey Nicolaevich Balashov.
In their statement, the US embassy in Tirana wrote, “Albania decided to proclaim “persona non-grata” two Russian Embassy employees”.
The US embassy in Albania called on Russia to take responsibility for its actions and show the world that Russia is capable of accomplishing its international engagement as a member of Security Council, the statement added.
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The Russian ambassador in Tirana, Dimitry Kazmin, in his interview for Report TV, expressed his regret for the decision made by the Albanian government to expel the two Russian diplomats. He stated that such action goes contrary to every effort made by Russia to improve and strengthen relations will Albania. The decision is non-based and time will prove that. The situation will not exclude counter-measures from the Russian side. He concluded that Albania will receive their official position in the near future.
