Montenegro declares Russian diplomat persona non grata

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Montenegrin Foreign Ministry has handed the Russian Embassy in Podgorica a note declaring a diplomat persona non grata. He must leave the country within a week.

"A formal note on this decision, which specifies a seven-day period to leave the territory of Montenegro, was handed today to Russian Ambassador Vladislav Maslennikov," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, Kommersant reports.

The last time Montenegro recognized a Russian diplomat as persona non grata was in March this year, against the background of the beginning of the "military operation" in Ukraine. The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry then explained that the activities of an employee of the Russian Embassy contradicted the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.