Russia will reduce the staff in its consulates in Norway at the request of the Norwegian authorities, France Press reported, citing the Russian ambassador in Oslo.< /p>
„In accordance with the request of the Norwegian side to make cuts by October 17, 2024, the diplomatic staff of the consular department of the embassy will be reduced to only two diplomats”, the diplomatic mission announced last night on Facebook.
The staff of the Russian consulates in Hyrkenes (in the north of the country), near the Russian-Norwegian border, and in Barentsburg on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic, where there is a Russian mining community, will be reduced, the embassy wrote on the social network “ Ex“ and the messaging app “Telegram” and added that the provision of services in them will be suspended.
Today Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that “we have been in dialogue with the Russians for some time to ensure a diplomatic presence in both countries”.
„No diplomats will be expelled from Norway,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Neither Russia nor Norway specified how many people will be cut from the staff of the Russian consulates.
As a result of Russian military actions in Ukraine, in April 2023 Norway expelled 15 employees of the Russian embassy in Oslo, on suspicion of espionage. In response, Russia expelled ten Norwegian diplomats from Moscow.
Norway, which closed its consulate in Murmansk (northwest Russia), now has only a limited diplomatic presence in Russia, with a significantly reduced embassy in Moscow and a consulate in St. Petersburg.