Russia expels official at Finnish Embassy in Moscow
Tit-for-tat move after expulsion of Russian
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An official of the Finnish Embassy in Moscow, forest policy expert Kalevi Kyyrönen , has been expelled from Russia. In August he was ordered by Russia to leave the country within two weeks.
Russian security officials told the Finnish Embassy in Moscow that the expulsion was in response to Finland’s expulsion of a Russian Embassy employee from Finland in the spring of this year.
Finland insists that Kyyrönen had not been involved in any inappropriate activity. There is no information on why he was chosen for the expulsion.
Kyyrönen has been in Russia, working for various employers for decades.
He was hired by the Finnish Embassy last autumn as an expert in forest issues. He will continue in the service of the Foreign Ministry.
“The countermeasure is part of normal diplomatic practice”, says Petri Tuomi-Nikula, a high-ranking official of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He says that Russia has behaved in a similar manner in 2007, when it expelled a Finnish police liaison officer.
Finland sent a Russian Embassy employee back to Russia for bribing a Finnish police officer. The diplomat had given the police officer alcohol, and a border pass valid for ten years.
In July, the policeman was sentenced to pay a fine by Lappeenranta District Court.
The Finnish Security Police (SUPO) became interested in the activities of the man over his intense contacts with the Russian Embassy.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 9.9.2008 - TODAY |
 Russia expels official at Finnish Embassy in Moscow |
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