INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Austria is expelling 4 Russian diplomats for conduct incompatible with their status, Vienna revealed Thursday.Austrias foreign ministry
determined the personae non gratae as 2 workers with the Russian Embassy and 2 with the Russian mission to the UN without supplying their
names.Vienna gave the 4 diplomats until next Wednesday, Feb
8, to return to Russia.It did not define what actions triggered the 4 diplomats expulsion.Russias Foreign Ministry vowed retaliation to
Austrias moves in comments to state media.Diplomatic expulsions are uncommon in neutral Austria, which delighted in close relations with
Russia before Moscow got into Ukraine.In April 2022, Austria expelled four Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated EU action after the
discovery of alleged killings of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.Before that, Austria expelled a Russian
diplomat accused of espionage in April 2020
The nation of 9 million has generally seen itself as a bridge between the East and West
Another figure required to leave Austria today was Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist and head of the Bellingcat
open-source investigative group.Grozev told Austrian media that intelligence operatives warned him about the danger of returning to Vienna
from a trip to the United States due to alleged hazards by the Russian security services.It was uncertain if Thursdays diplomatic expulsions
remained in any method linked to the supposed threats versus Grozev, who was placed on Russias desired list late last year.AFP contributed
