Russia adds Norway to list of ‘unfriendly’ states, downscales Norwegian embassy staff

Russia on Thursday, August 3, added Norway to its list of 'unfriendly' countries resulting in the downscaling of the country's diplomatic mission's staff in Russia. “The government has included the Kingdom of Norway in the list of foreign states that commit unfriendly acts against Russian diplomatic and consular missions abroad,” Russia’s cabinet of ministers said in a statement published on August 3. 

'Act of revenge'

The decree, which was signed by Russia's President Vladimir Putin, caps the figure of the staff in the embassy of Norway in Russia. The Norwegian embassy can now hire only up to 27 people at its diplomatic missions in Russia. Moscow's move was retaliatory to Norway's similar actions in April. The country expelled 15 Russian embassy employees accusing them of being undercover agents and the intelligence officers who were spying for Russia.

Russia, in response, expelled approximately 10 Norwegian diplomats, a move that Norway labelled as an 'act of revenge'. 

Shortly after Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered what he calls the 'special military operation' in Ukraine, he added scores of European countries to its list of 'unfriendly countries' including Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Moscow accused these nations of 'carrying out unfriendly actions towards Russian companies and citizens' and imposing sanctions to hurt the Russian economy.

Kremin also classified Hungary as 'an unfriendly country', arguing that it 'signed up to all the anti-Russian sanctions packages of Brussels' and is 'forced to comply with them'.

Russian Ambassador to Budapest, Evgeny Stanislavov, reiterated that Budapest has to 'adhere to a pragmatic position' which it is 'not going to abandon yet even under the pressure of its allies in the European Union and NATO'. Russia formulated the 'unfriendly countries' list in March 2022 and has since added almost all EU countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and about 20 other countries. The embassies of the mentioned countries would have to limit the staff levels in Russia. According to the Kremlin press service, Greece is allowed to restrict staff members to 34, Denmark to 20, Slovakia to 16, and Slovenia and Croatia, for instance, are not allowed to hire Russian citizens as employees at their diplomatic missions.