Denmark’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had asked Russia to reduce the number of staff at its embassy in Copenhagen, mainly because of Russian attempts to include “intelligence officers” in visa applications, AFP reported.

The Russian embassy should reduce its staff to a number equivalent to the staff of the Danish embassy in Moscow, the Danish ministry said, adding that it had informed the Russian ambassador, Volodymyr Babin.

This decision was made after tense negotiations between the two countries regarding the granting of visas to embassy employees.

“The negotiations failed due to repeated attempts by Russia to include visa requests for intelligence officers in the negotiations,” the ministry said in a statement.

Basically, the embassy will have the right to five diplomats and twenty administrative and technical personnel.

“The decision to introduce parity between the staffs of the two diplomatic missions means that the Russian diplomatic mission is forced to reduce staff,” the agency added. This sale must be completed by September 29.

In April 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark expelled 15 Russian diplomats accused of being intelligence agents.

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