Russia Slams Balkan States for Expelling its Diplomats

Russian embassies in Croatia, Romania and Macedonia have strongly criticised the three countries' decision to expel diplomats to show solidarity with Britain in the wake of the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and Romania joined other EU countries in expelling some Russian diplomats on Monday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow called the wave of expulsions "an unfriendly step."

"We express our strong protest in the wake of the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO member countries to expel Russian diplomats," a ministry statement read.

"The provocative gesture of the so-called solidarity of these countries with London, which blindly followed the British authorities in the so-called 'Skripal case' and which never got around to sort out the circumstances of the incident, is a continuation of the confrontational policy to escalate the situation," it added.

The Russian embassy in Skopje on Tuesday warned the Macedonian government of "consequences" for deciding to expel a Russian diplomat in solidarity with Britain.

Faced with a barrage of questions from journalists, the Russian embassy in Bucharest issued a very short statement, labelling Romania's decision to declare a Russian diplomat persona non grata "an expression of madness".

The Russian embassy in Zagreb also expressed regret over the decision by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic to expel a Russian diplomat, assessing the move as "hostile".

"We deeply regret that the Croatian side… has made a swift and ill-considered decision, the consequences of which will adversely affect the further development of our bilateral relations, including their trade and economic component," the Russian...