The Estonian Consul in Saint Petersburg was arrested by the FSB

DrIt is the Russian intelligence FSB The consul of Estonia, Mart Lati, was arrested in Saint Petersburg, according to his own statements. According to the Interfax news agency, which appealed to the Federal Security Office on Tuesday evening, the Estonian diplomat “was caught red-handed when he received classified information from a Russian citizen.”

The FSB stressed that the diplomat’s actions were “clearly hostile” and that measures are being taken in accordance with international law against Latte. According to the website of the Estonian Consulate General in Saint Petersburg, Lätte is one of six consuls there; Thus the representation under the supervision of Consul General Carl-Eric Lante Rentham has eight employees. A spokeswoman for the Estonian Foreign Ministry confirmed his arrest. She told Estonian radio that the allegations against the consul were fabricated and unfounded. The incident is another example of Russia’s lack of interest in constructive relations with its neighbors.

Russia has expelled Western diplomats several times in the past few years; In the spring, she met representatives of Germany, Poland and Sweden, who allegedly took part in demonstrations in favor of the imprisoned opposition leader. Alexei Navalny Having participated, they were expelled from the country. Time and time again, Western citizens are arrested and sentenced in Russia for espionage, apparently with the aim of exchanging them for Russian prisoners in Western countries.

Several recent expulsions of diplomats

However, the arrest of a diplomat represents a new level of escalation. On Tuesday evening, Lati’s case referred to the arrest in April of a Ukrainian consul, also in Saint Petersburg, who was also accused by the FSB of receiving classified information from the Russian; Then this diplomat was expelled from Russia. Ukraine called the event a provocation, and in response, a Russian diplomat in Kiev was expelled from the country.

Russia’s relations with the European Union and NATO member Estonia have been strained in recent years over the Estonian Cohover affair, among other things. An Estonian border official was kidnapped from Estonian soil by the FSB in 2014 and portrayed as a NATO agent; According to the Russian version, Kufer himself crossed the border illegally. The Estonian was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but after a year in prison, he was replaced by an Estonian intelligence agent who was said to have spied for Russia.