Slovakia expels three Russian diplomats

BRATISLAVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Slovakia on Thursday expelled three Russian diplomats and gave them seven days to leave the country.

Announcing the decision, Prime Minister Eduard Heger said that Slovakia was acting in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which had ordered a group of Russian diplomats to leave the country in a dispute over the alleged involvement of Russian spies in an ammunition depot explosion in 2014.

"In connection with the situation in our geopolitical area and current events in the Czech Republic, to which we hereby reiterate solidarity and full support, and after a thorough evaluation of the information of our intelligence services ... I would like to inform you that three representatives of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation must end their operations and leave the territory of the Slovak Republic within seven days," he said in a statement.

"We consider it very important to do everything to protect security interests, including the security risk assessment that diplomatic missions operate in the territory of the Slovak Republic in accordance with our laws and international conventions," he added.

According to the statement, the Slovak Republic "reaffirms its interest in building relations with the Russian Federation based on mutual respect, and at the same time expects representatives of the Russian Federation's diplomatic mission to contribute to this."