If Moscow wants to send a clear signal to Estonia, it can choose to recall the ambassador among all its diplomats, writes the Estonian media ERR News.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia announced on Wednesday, the 11th of January, that the Russian embassy in Tallinn must reduce the number of diplomats and employees in order to comply with the principle of parity. This means that 13 diplomats and eight other embassy employees have to leave Estonia.
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Eva-Maria Liimets, said that the breakdown of relations with Russia began already during her term in the previous government convocation. Liimets said: «From the start of the war, it was clear in Estonia that fostering diplomatic relations with Russia and relations between the two countries was impossible, and there was a desire to reduce diplomatic representation accordingly. And, as we recall, Estonia took the first step in the spring by expelling diplomats who, in our opinion, were not engaged in diplomatic relations but were compromising Estonia’s security.» Russian Consulates are also closed.
She added that it is absolutely clear that
the war waged by Russia does not allow maintaining friendly relations with it, and it makes no sense to keep a large number of persons in the country whose main task under normal conditions would be to promote a favorable environment for cooperation.
Liimets pointed out that the previous government was unable to achieve the implementation of the principle of parity despite the desire to do so. If Russia decides to respond to Estonia’s demands by expelling diplomats from Moscow, other solutions will have to be considered. She explained that in diplomatic relations you have to be able to compromise, and the requirement of parity means that each of the countries has the same number of diplomats.
Russia is certainly interested in keeping the most useful persons in Estonia, but it is not excluded that it may decide to recall its ambassador. Liimets said that recallingthe ambassador would be a very strong message, and added that in such cases, when it comes to clearly unfriendly relations, the goal is to make the other country feel as uncomfortable as possible. It is understandable that Russia is carefully weighing which diplomats to withdraw from Estonia.
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