As a result of this decision, the number of the staff of the Russian embassy must be reduced to 8 diplomatic positions and 15 posted administrative, technical and service staff members.
“Estonia considers the principle of parity very important in our relations with Russia. In light of the fact that during the war of aggression, the staff of the Russian embassy is not engaged in advancing Estonian-Russian relations, it is our view that there are no grounds for the current size of the Russian embassy,” Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said.
“Since the start of the war, Estonia has reduced its bilateral relations with the Russian Federation to the absolute minimum. In the spring, we closed Russia’s consulates in Narva and Tartu and we have expelled three members of the Russian embassy’s diplomatic staff, who were actively undermining Estonia’s security and spreading propaganda justifying Russia’s military action. Now we are setting a limit to the number of Russian diplomats working in Estonia in order to achieve parity. Today’s step is in correlation with the low point of our relations in general,” Reinsalu added.
According to the diplomatic note of the Foreign Ministry, citing Article 11 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, parity in the size of representations should be reached by 1 February 2023.
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