Austria expels 4 Russian diplomats based in Vienna

Austria's government said Thursday that it has ordered four diplomats based in Vienna, including two at Moscow's mission to UN agencies in the city, to leave the country.

The Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement that two diplomats at the Russian Embassy had “engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status” and two at the permanent mission to the United Nations in Vienna “committed acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement.” It didn't elaborate.

The diplomats were given a week to leave Austria.

Western European nations and Russia have expelled each others' diplomats on several occasions since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started nearly a year ago.

Austria, a European Union member that has a policy of military neutrality, has given aid to Ukraine but not military equipment. President Alexander Van der Bellen was in Kyiv on Wednesday on a trip meant to underline Austria's solidarity.

Vienna is home to UN agencies including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

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