BEST OF ENEMIES: The bonhomie that accompanied the border treaty proved short lived. (Photo: Leta)
Latvian ambassador Andris Teikmanis was summoned to
the Russian Foreign Ministry to be told that vice-consul Peteris Podvinskis had
been declared 'persona non grata' and had 48 hours to leave the country.
The move follows the explusion of Russian diplomat
Alexander Rogozhin from the Russian embassy in Riga after an investigation by
the Latvian Constitutional Protection Bureau concluded that he was in violation
of the Vienna Convention by engaging in activities "unacceptable for the status
of a diplomat" 's a roundabout way of saying he was believed to be spying.
After keeping the Latvians guessing for a few days,
Teikmanis was told that Podvinskis - was also engaged in "activities
unacceptable for the status of a diplomat" and ordered out of the country as a
result.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hinted that
Latvia might not have been acting entirely of its own accord when he blamed the
first expulsion on "people who wish that relations with Russia are
problematic."
Latvian-Russian relations had improved recently after
a visit by Lavrov to Riga to sign a border treaty and there has even been talk
that Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Riga in June with Latvian
President Valdis Zatlers heading in the opposite direction. Both visits now
look less likely to happen.
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