The employee of the European Union mission in Russia was physically attacked in the city of Vladivostok at the Russian Far East, at the end of May, where she was on a business trip. The attack is probably Russian security forces. TASR reports this on the basis of a report by the German weekly Der Spiegel referring to diplomatic sources.
According to them, the diplomat, 26 May around 7 am, left the hotel for a walk because she could no longer sleep. Shortly thereafter, the car stopped at her, from which two men got off. They began to threaten her and then beat her.
The victim’s name was not published, but it is known to be a citizen of Romania. She was accompanied by a colleague from France, with whom they were planning to visit consulates of EU countries in Vladivostok. After the attack she was deported from Russia, its current status is unknown.
European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper for Spiegel confirmed the attack on the EU diplomat in Vladivostok, but did not disclose the details of what happened. According to her, a representative of Russia in Belgium was summoned after the incident.
It is not known who attacked a member of the EU mission. European diplomats suspect that they could be employees of Russian security forces. Spiegel notes that the FSB secret service is constantly monitoring Western diplomats operating in Russia. The attack on a representative of a foreign diplomatic mission was described as “Escalation in tense relationships between the Russian Federation and Western countries”.
Members of diplomatic missions are entitled to special protection in the host countries in accordance with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. This also applies to Russian diplomats in the EU.
