On Tuesday, 5 April, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador to Rome in order to notify him of the expulsion of thirty Russian diplomats from Italian territory. The move was approved “for national security reasons” and “in the context of the current crisis” “following the unjustified aggression to Ukraine by the Russian Federation”. It comes “in agreement with other European and Atlantic partners” the note by the Italian MFA states.
Amid the outcry around the tragic news from Bucha, the disclosure of an ever-growing number of deliberate atrocities committed by the Russians, and following Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s call for devastating sanctions, several European countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Spain, have declared Russian diplomatic personnel “personae non grata”. Norway announced on April 6 it would be expelling three diplomats from the Russian embassy in Oslo.
This wave of expulsions hits more than double the number of ejections in the 2018 wave in response to the Skripal poisoning case in the UK.
In response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats, Kremlin spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced an upcoming symmetrical move by the Russian Federation, Interfax reported.
The Russian Embassy in Rome released a note reporting the “explicit protest” by Russian Ambassador Sergey Razov – not among those expelled – against this “groundless decision” that will “further deteriorate bilateral relations” between Russia and Italy.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi had on Sunday called for the Russian authorities to be held accountable for the “cruel massacre of helpless civilians”. On April 5, commenting the expulsions of Russian diplomatic personnel, he directly addressed the Russian President telling him “once again to stop hostilities, to stop the slaughter of civilians, to participate with earnestness in negotiations to reach peace.”
Italy’s top envoy Luigi Di Maio announcing the measure on Tuesday from Berlin, declared that Italy “is available to be a guarantor of Ukraine’s security and peace” and that it “will do everything necessary to carry out this job” while adding that this would not expose the country to any risk, and that “some blackmail” is not enough to “scare us”.
Di Maio was referring also to the recent death threats and insults he received via social media, following his efforts to unchain Italy from its dependence on Russian gas, and his firmness in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The Russian institutional response to the Italian stance on the side of Ukraine has been harsh. Following Di Maio’s visit to Russia on the eve of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, disappointed with Italian willingness to try and prevent Russian aggression, publicly insulted Di Maio by calling him unprofessional.
Earlier, on 25 March, the Russian Ambassador to Italy, Sergey Razov, surrounded by an encouraged media fanfare, headed to Rome’s Public Prosecutor’s office to file a complaint against prominent Italian newspaper La Stampa, with reference to an article published by the latter called “Ukraine-Russia war: if killing Putin is the only way out”, accusing both the journal and author of a crime.
The journalist in question, Domenico Quirico, denied the allegation and answered that “one is responsible for what one writes, not what others understand”, wishing the Russians would hire a better translator.
But Italy’s Russia problem has even deeper roots. Last year’s arrest of the Italian frigate commander Walter Biot, caught red-handed selling Italian and NATO military secrets to Russia for 5,000 Euros was an alarm bell of the level of pervasiveness of offensive Russian influence in Italy.
Yesterday’s expulsion of as much as 30 Russian diplomats – a measure that in the past Rome has been reluctant to apply – signals the possible opening of a season of a more aware approach to this problem in our society, and provides additional evidence of a profoundly changed attitude by Rome towards Russia.
