The government of North Macedonia decided to expel five Russian diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

A statement said that Russia’s Ambassador in Skopje Sergey Bazdnikin was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and handed a diplomatic note which said that five embassy staff members were designated persona non grata. The five Russian diplomats were ordered to leave the country within the next five days.

“According to reports from the competent bodies, they were conducting activities which run counter to the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations and should leave the territory of North Macedonia within the next five days,” the statement said without specifying what activities the diplomats were conducting.