[Russia] - Russia Reduces Consular Staff in Norway

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia will reduce its consular staff in Norway following a request from authorities in Oslo, the Russian Embassy said late Monday.In a post
on Facebook, the Russian mission in Oslo said that "only two diplomats will remain in the consular section" after a request to cut its staff
numbers by October 17.Russia's consulates in Kirkenes, near the Russian-Norwegian border in the north, and in Barentsburg, a Russian mining
community in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, announced on social media that they would be temporarily suspending their consular services
due to the staff reduction.The Norwegian Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that it had "been in dialogue with the Russian side for some
of the reduction in Russian consular staff.Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Norway expelled 15 Russian embassy employees
Murmansk in northwestern Russia, now has only a limited diplomatic presence in the country, with a reduced embassy in Moscow and a consulate
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