Russia takes tit-for-tat action

MOSCOW -- In a piece of textbook tit-for-tat diplomacy, Russiaannounced the expulsion of a diplomat from Latvia's Moscow embassy on Jan.25th.

Latvian ambassador Andris Teikmanis was summoned tothe Russian Foreign Ministry to be told that vice-consul Peteris Podvinskis hadbeen declared 'persona non grata' and had 48 hours to leave the country.

The move follows the explusion of Russian diplomatAlexander Rogozhin from the Russian embassy in Riga after an investigation bythe Latvian Constitutional Protection Bureau concluded that he was in violationof the Vienna Convention by engaging in activities "unacceptable for the statusof 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 "activitiesunacceptable for the status of a diplomat" and ordered out of the country as aresult.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hinted thatLatvia might not have been acting entirely of its own accord when he blamed thefirst expulsion on "people who wish that relations with Russia areproblematic."

Latvian-Russian relations had improved recently aftera visit by Lavrov to Riga to sign a border treaty and there has even been talkthat Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Riga in June with LatvianPresident Valdis Zatlers heading in the opposite direction. Both visits nowlook less likely to happen.