BELGRADE (Reuters) – Croatia on Monday told 24 Russian embassy staff to leave over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “brutal aggression”, the foreign ministry said in a statement, following similar moves by other EU countries.
The 24 included 18 diplomats, it said.
The ministry said that the Russian ambassador was summoned in a protest over the “brutal aggression on Ukraine and numerous crimes committed (there)”.
“The Russian party was informed about the reduction of administrative-technical staff of the Russian Federation’s embassy in Zagreb,” the statement said.
The European Union on Friday adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine which includes a ban on coal imports, new restrictions on trade and the blacklisting of several oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
Russia says it launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24 to demilitarize and “denazify” the country.
Ukraine and the West saw that as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Nick Macfie)
