the same cycle has repeated itself many times in recent months in Northern Europe

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the same cycle has repeated itself many times in recent

The closings of the embassies are a sign of the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West due to the Russian war of aggression.

Recently, the English term tit-for-tat has been repeated in international media headlines. Last today, a US news agency AP headlined that Russia is making a tit-for-tat move by expelling Finnish diplomats and closing the Finnish consulate in St. Petersburg.

Tit-for-tat means a countermeasure that tends to equalize the scores, so to speak. The cycle of countermeasures has been seen even stronger this year in diplomacy between Russia and especially the countries of Northern Europe.

According to Russia, the recent announcement was a countermeasure to Finland’s expulsion of Russian diplomats engaged in espionage in June. Finland announced right after that, as a countermeasure, it is considering closing the Russian consulate general in Turku.

The cycle of countermeasures in diplomatic relations follows a familiar pattern from recent months. Here are some recent examples:

  • In January, Estonia instructed Russia to reduce the number of its diplomats in Tallinn. In response, Russia expelled Estonia’s ambassador to Moscow. After this, Estonia and Latvia expelled the Russian ambassadors. Lithuania already expelled the Russian ambassador in the spring of 2022. In April 2023, Russia closed more consulates of the Baltic countries.
  • Norway in April kicked out 15 Russian diplomats guilty of espionage, and a couple of weeks later Russia expelled 10 Norwegian diplomats.
  • In April, Sweden expelled Russian diplomats guilty of espionage. In May, Russia expelled Swedish diplomats and closed the Swedish consulate in St. Petersburg and its own consulate in Gothenburg.
  • In May, Russia limited the number of German diplomats in Russia, which led to the closure of three German consulates in Russia. Germany, on the other hand, ordered the closure of four out of five Russian consulates in Germany.
  • In May, Russia announced that it would close its Lappeenranta consulate and his dismissal The founding agreements of Finland’s vacant missions in Murmansk and Petrozavodsk.
  • In June, Iceland announced that it would close its embassy in Moscow and asked Russia to reduce its activity in its embassy in Iceland. Russia immediately threatened Iceland with countermeasures.

    • The closings of the embassies are one sign of the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West following the Russian war of aggression.

    – Currently, commercial, cultural and political relations with Russia are at the weakest level ever, Iceland reasoned closing its embassy in Moscow.

    Sources: Reuters, AFP

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