Macedonia Claims Expelled Russian Diplomat Breached Security

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov told media on Tuesday that the unnamed Russian diplomat was expelled in solidarity with Britain over the Sergei Skripal poisoning, but also for domestic security reasons.

Dimitrov said the decision "was made after careful deliberation and analysis" and was "based on two elements".

"One is international, the event that happened [with the] chemical attack poisoning in the UK and the solidarity asked for by our allies," he explained.

The other, domestic reason was that the diplomat had breached his diplomatic mandate by trying to get classified information.

"It is about an attempt to obtain classified information that is important for the security of Macedonia," Dimitrov said.

"Our findings are based on hard evidence and we have no dilemmas about that," he added.

Macedonia on Monday joined Britain, several EU states, the US, Canada and some other Balkan countries in an apparently coordinated action to expel Russian diplomats in response to the nerve agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence official, and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury in England.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said however that he was not convinced about the facts of the case. 

Ivanov's office said after the foreign minister's statement that the decision to expel was "rushed", insisting that the country should avoid quick decisions that could harm Macedonia's strategic interests.
 

Meanwhile, more governments from the region said on Tuesday that they had also decided to expel Russian diplomats over the Skipal case, or hinted that they might do so.

The Moldovan authorities said that they were expelling three Russian diplomats.