MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. Moscow could consider revising the notification procedure for EU diplomats’ entry if Brussels stops discriminating against employees of Russian diplomatic missions and consular institutions, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"It’s our conviction that in any situation we must leave the door open for diplomacy and diplomats, but no one should forget that reciprocity remains the basic principle of diplomatic relations. We talk about this regularly, and we talked about retaliatory measures. If the member states of the European Union and the states of the Schengen area stop taking discriminatory measures against employees of diplomatic missions and consular institutions of our country, we will be ready to reconsider the application of the notification procedure," the diplomat said at a briefing.
"We introduced the notification procedure purely as a response. The Russian side firmly adheres to the opinion that it’s crucial to maintain diplomatic channels of communication, including with countries that pursue an unfriendly or even openly hostile policy towards our country, towards Russia."
From June 15, employees of the diplomatic missions of the EU countries, some countries of the Schengen area, as well as the EU representative office in Moscow must cross the Russian border according to a new notification procedure. This applies to diplomatic, consular, administrative and technical staff, as well as adult members of their families accredited in Russia.
