Greece is moving towards expelling two Russian diplomats, and blocking two others from entering the country, who are suspected of having been involved in an attempt to undermine the deal between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Speaking to the Associated Press, a Greek official, who requested to remain anonymous, revealed that Russia had been given until Friday 13 July to have the diplomats out of Greece.
In response, Russia said it would take similar action with regards to Greek diplomats in Moscow.
The decision to expel the diplomats, follows evidence that they encouraged rallies against the name deal, along with offering bribes to opponents.
According to reports, their motivation was fuelled by the fact that the deal will likely see FYROM join NATO, and as a result weaken the influence of Russia in the western Balkans.
“We had issued warnings to Russian authorities for some time over [the actions of] these specific four diplomats and civilians, and on Friday it was officially raised, giving them a reasonable period of a few days to leave the country,” a Greek government source said.
During the NATO summit in Brussels, FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev alluded to the fact that he was aware of Russia being responsible for some of the protests that took place outside of his parliament. But added that they were in no way interested in conflict.
“We are a small country. We want to build a friendship with everybody. There is no alternative but NATO membership,” Zaev said.