NATO expels two Russians over Estonia spy scandal

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO has ordered the expulsion of two Russian diplomats over a spy scandal in which an Estonian official was jailed for passing secrets to Moscow, a NATO diplomat said on Thursday.

"Two Russian diplomats have been told they are not welcome here," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The pair were attached to the mission Russia has at NATO headquarters although it is not a member of the alliance.

The diplomat said they were expelled over the case of Herman Simm, an Estonian jailed for more than 12 years for treason in February for handing more than 2,000 pages of information to handlers in Russia's SVR Foreign Intelligence Service.

NATO ordered the diplomats out on Wednesday, the same day the alliance resumed formal talks with Russia at ambassadorial level, eight months after contacts were suspended over Russia's five-day war with Georgia last August.

Russia regards improving relations with NATO as part of a broader effort to improve relations with the West, and in particular with the United States. Ties with Washington sank to a post-Cold War low under U.S. President George W. Bush.

Russia said the expulsions were driven by elements inside the Western alliance that wanted to undermine ties with Moscow.

"A crude provocation has been made in relation to two employees of Russia's permanent mission to NATO on an absolutely trumped up pretext without any clear explanation," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This outrageous action fundamentally contradicts statements by NATO's leadership on its readiness to normalize ties with Russia ... The forces behind this provocation are not interested in giving an impetus to the current trend toward improving relations," it said.  Continued...