French Foreign Ministry declares two Azerbaijani diplomats persona non grata

Two employees of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Paris have been declared persona non grata in response to Baku's similar move against French diplomats.

“France notes the decision taken by Azerbaijan to declare two members of the French Embassy in Azerbaijan persona non grata. It categorically rejects the allegations presented by Azerbaijan to justify its decision,” Caliber.Az reports, citing a report by the French Foreign Ministry.

“As a reciprocal measure, France has declared two employees of the Azerbaijani Embassy in France persona non grata. The Azerbaijani Ambassador to France was today [December 27] summoned to the Quai d’Orsay to be informed of this,” the report reads.

On December 27, French Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Bouillon was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, where it was brought to her attention that two employees of the French diplomatic mission were declared persona non grata by the Azerbaijani government for activities that do not correspond to their diplomatic status and contradict the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. These persons were ordered to leave the territory of Azerbaijan within 48 hours, and the French ambassador was handed a corresponding note from the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.