Austria is expelling 4 Russian diplomats for conduct incompatible with their status, Vienna revealed Thursday.Austrias foreign ministry determined the personae non gratae as 2 workers with the Russian Embassy and 2 with the Russian mission to the UN without supplying their names.Vienna gave the 4 diplomats until next Wednesday, Feb.

8, to return to Russia.It did not define what actions triggered the 4 diplomats expulsion.Russias Foreign Ministry vowed retaliation to Austrias moves in comments to state media.Diplomatic expulsions are uncommon in neutral Austria, which delighted in close relations with Russia before Moscow got into Ukraine.In April 2022, Austria expelled four Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated EU action after the discovery of alleged killings of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.Before that, Austria expelled a Russian diplomat accused of espionage in April 2020.

The nation of 9 million has generally seen itself as a bridge between the East and West.

Another figure required to leave Austria today was Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian investigative journalist and head of the Bellingcat open-source investigative group.Grozev told Austrian media that intelligence operatives warned him about the danger of returning to Vienna from a trip to the United States due to alleged hazards by the Russian security services.It was uncertain if Thursdays diplomatic expulsions remained in any method linked to the supposed threats versus Grozev, who was placed on Russias desired list late last year.AFP contributed reporting.