The unprecedented wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats from European capitals - now close to 400 - is not just a symbolic act of revulsion at the war crimes of which Russia stands accused. It is part of a decades-long battle to police the dividing line between espionage and diplomacy, in which the west has been accused of ignoring a recent resurgence in Russia's clandestine activities.
Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, said last year that he suspected the west was picking up only 10% of Russia's espionage. Certainly the scale of the exodus of alleged Russian spies - probably the largest single set of expulsions in history, according to the distinguished former French diplomat François Heisbourg - may raise the question of how the west came to indulge so many Russian “diplomats” on European soil. So far, Malta, Cyprus and Hungary are the only EU member states yet to send any of them packing.
Heisbourg said there was a clear and valid distinction between a diplomat and a spy, and those being expelled from Europe are not chosen at random but because there is evidence they are in breach of the Vienna convention, the code that governs legitimate diplomacy. As well as spying, this could also involve spreading disinformation on social media.
"If you spend your time sending Twitter messages insulting the government of the host nation, if you follow the 'wolf warrior' diplomacy undertaken by Chinese diplomats, that can fall under that definition of making you persona non grata," said Heisbourg.
He said there was an art to the timing and choice of expulsions: "Self-evidently, it is easier to keep track of the spy that you do know rather than the spy you don't know. Once you know of their existence, they become useful counter-intelligence. If you don't know who they are, you have a problem.”
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 22, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 22, 2022-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Putin's Call To De-Dollarise Alarms Some At BRICS Talks
Vladimir Putin opened the expanded Brics summit last month by issuing a call for an alternative international payments system that could prevent the US using the dollar as a political weapon.
Power in the darkness
Wolf Hall is back. As the extraordinary epic about King Henry VIII and his vengeful entourage edges to a climax, Timothy Spall reveals what it was like to play Cromwell's nemesis
It's time for Trump's instincts to be called what they are: fascist
There is a good chance that on 5 November, Americans will elect the first fascist president of the United States.
CASTLES IN THE AIR
It was meant to be a dream development of mansions in the Turkish hills. But 13 years on, Burj AI Babas is a half-built ghost town, and a microcosm of the scandal-hit construction sector under Erdoğan. Will the buyers ever get to move in?
Using cutting-edge methods, Alexandra Morton-Hayward is unravelling the mysteries of grey matter – even as hers betrays her The brain collector
ALEXANDRA MORTON-HAYWARD, a 35-year-old mortician turned molecular palaeontologist, had been behind the wheel of her rented Vauxhall for five hours, motoring across three countries, when a torrential storm broke loose on the plains of Belgium.
Dark times Blackouts spark fears of wider collapse
Maria Elena Cárdenas is 76 and lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana's colonial old town.
Washington Post sparks fury over decision not to endorse
Fury and shock ripped through liberal America last weekend after news that the Washington Post, home of the Watergate scandal exposé, will not endorse Kamala Harris for president.
The great space waste
From chaotic collisions to depletion of the ozone layer, the thousands of satellites in orbit around Earth have the potential to wreak havoc
New heights Teen Sherpa's fight for climbing equality
Growing up as a sherpa in Nepal, Nima Rinji Sherpa was used to his relatives performing superhuman feats on the mountains.
Plastic cave made in Spain keeps Amazonian culture alive
It is not yet dawn in Ulupuwene, an Indigenous village in the Brazilian Amazon, but the Wauja people have already risen to prepare for the festive day ahead.
