PRAGUE SET TO KICK OUT DOZENS OF MOSCOW DIPLOMATS

The Czech Republic may be set to expel dozens of Russian diplomats after the Foreign Ministry called on Moscow to scale back the size of its embassy in Prague, Michael Heitmann reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek called on Moscow to reduce the size of its diplomatic mission in Prague to the size of the Czech Republic's embassy in Moscow by the end of May. "The Czech Republic is a self-confident country and behaves accordingly," he said. Kulhanek, 36, was appointed to the post a day earlier.

The exchange follows a spate of diplomatic expulsions after Prague accused Moscow of being behind blasts that occurred at an ammunition depot in 2014. The Czech Republic currently has 24 embassy staff members in Moscow, including five diplomats.

Prague had previously called on Moscow to allow diplomats Russia had expelled to return. The Czech move could affect up to 70 Russian diplomats and embassy staff members. Moscow presently has 94 members of embassy staff there, including 27 diplomats.

Moscow, angered by the ultimatum, described the move as "hysteria" and vowed to retaliate. Russian government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Prague's call was seen "extremely negatively," in comments reported by Interfax news agency.

Later on Thursday, Russia issued called on Prague to reduce the number of staff in its embassy, without naming a figure. "Prague started down the path of destroying relations, the response will not be long in coming," spokesperson Maria Zakharova said, according to Interfax news agency.

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