Russia Fully Closes Consulates of Several Countries and Expels Their Staff

Russia is closing several consular institutions of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, with staff members required to leave the country, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry as reported by the RIA Novosti news agency.

On April 21, the ambassadors of Latvia and Estonia, as well as Lithuania's chargé d'affaires Virginia Umbrasiene, were summoned to Smolenskaya Square. They received a strong protest concerning the closure of the Russian consulates in Klaipeda, Liepaja, Daugavpils, Narva, and the consular division of the embassy in Tartu.

“Based on the principle of reciprocity and considering the military assistance provided to the Kyiv regime by the governments of these countries, as well as their concealment of the crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists against the civilian population of Donbas and Ukraine, a decision has been made to withdraw the approval for the operations of the Latvian Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, the Latvian Consulate in Pskov, the Estonian Consulate General in Saint Petersburg and its office in Pskov, as well as the Latvian Consulate General in Saint Petersburg,” the Foreign Ministry stated in a release.

Additionally, Moscow has declared the heads of the Estonian and Latvian missions and consular staff as persona non grata, while non-Russian technical and administrative personnel working at the mentioned institutions are deemed “unacceptable.”