KYIV. May 13 (Interfax) - Ukraine is expelling two Czech diplomats posted in Kyiv for alleged spying.
The Czech charge d'affaires in Ukraine, Vitezslav Pivonka, was invited to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Friday and handed a note saying two members of the staff of the Czech Embassy's defense section had been declared personae non gratae, the ministry said in a statement.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that their collection of information that constitutes official secrets in Ukraine is incompatible with their diplomatic status," the statement said without elaborating.
"A resolute protest was expressed to the head of the Czech diplomatic mission against the use of diplomatic status for the collection of information that constitutes official secrets. It was emphasized that Ukraine cannot accept such activities on the part of any state," the ministry said.
The ministry added, however, that friendly and "mutually beneficial" relations with the Czech Republic are a priority for Ukraine and expressed hope that there would be no more incidents of this kind.