Estonian Foreign Ministry confirms deportation of 2 Russian diplomats

The Estonian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two Russian diplomats were deported from Estonia.

"It is true, Russian diplomats were deported from Estonia but we cannot give you more information," the press service of the Estonian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti on the telephone.

On Saturday, Eesti Paevaleht, an Estonian newspaper, reported that two Russian diplomats were deported. According to the newspaper, last Wednesday the Estonian Foreign Ministry ordered two Russian diplomats to leave the country in the next 48 hours. They could have been collecting secret information on Estonia's joining the European Union and NATO, the newspaper said.

In late February, three officials from the Russian Embassy and the Russian trade mission were deported from Lithuania, another Baltic republic that was part of the former Soviet Union.