Norway has expelled more than a dozen employees of the Russian embassy in Oslo Thursday who it says are working as intelligence agents for Moscow.
The move comes in response to an increasing intelligence threat from Moscow and a “deteriorating security situation” in Europe, according to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It said it had been monitoring the 15 embassy workers and have found them to be “engaging in activities that are not compatible with their diplomatic status.”
They have been declared to be personae non gratae, stripped of diplomatic immunity, and must leave the country “shortly,” the ministry said in a statement.
The expulsion comes amid wider security concerns among European countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia currently poses the greatest intelligence threat to Norway. We take this very seriously, and are now implementing measures to counter Russian intelligence activities in our country,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said.
The decision comes a year after the expulsion of three Russian intelligence officers who were also working under diplomatic cover in Oslo.
“I would like to emphasize that Norway is seeking to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Russia, and that Russian diplomats are welcome in Norway,” Huitfeldt said.
But Norway will not accept that diplomatic missions are “misused for the purposes of carrying out covert intelligence activities,” she added.
