MOSCOW. Jan 22 (Interfax) - The Albanian authorities have provided no evidence of a violation of anti-Covid measures by a Russian diplomat whom they declared a persona non grata yesterday, the Russian embassy in Tirana said on Friday.
The name Alexei Krivosheyev, who is being expelled from Albania, "was never mentioned during communications between the Russian embassy and Albania's Foreign Ministry" in the context of non-compliance with the current anti-pandemic restrictions in the country, the embassy said.
"The first and last time it came up was in a verbal note from the Albanian Foreign Ministry on January 20, 2021, which declared Mr. Krivosheyev persona non grata, but cited no evidence of his violating the anti-Covid measures imposed by Albania," it said.
The diplomat in question, an employee of the embassy, was diagnosed with Covid-19 in early November, after which "he self-isolated for two weeks together with his family in line with medical protocol, strictly observing the prescribed quarantine, and only went back to work after receiving two negative tests," the embassy said.
"He had no outside contacts other than visiting a medical facility to be tested," the embassy said, stressing that the charges against Krivosheyev are "groundless and forced."
At the same time, "the issue of grievances - also quite dubious, by the way - about the behavior of another diplomat was brought up" at a meeting with Russian Ambassador Mikhail Afanasyev at the Foreign Ministry of Albania last July, and the ambassador "promised to address the case, which he did." "There were no more complaints about the employee, and he safely left the country several months later, having finished his tenure," the embassy said.
Furthermore, "in accordance with international diplomatic practice, the names of diplomatic staff declared personae non gratae are not made public, not in the least due to the hosting country's obligation to ensure the personal safety of diplomats and their family members," it said.
"If their names do get publicized, this is done already after the employee has left the host country," the embassy said.
Albania has a number of restrictions in place, including a nighttime curfew, a mask mandate, and obligational social distancing.
Earlier on Friday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Interfax that Albania's decision will have a negative effect on relations between Moscow and Tirana.
"This step will not be left unanswered and, of course, will not benefit relations with Albania," Grushko said.
"It's really unfortunate that the Albanian side resorts to such methods," he said.