FROM RUSSIA WITH NO LOVE

The war has prompted an exodus from the west of Russians accused of espionage, which some feel is long overdue. Why were the clandestine activities of so many diplomats' indulged for so long?

- Patrick Wintour

The unprecedented wave of expulsions of Russian diplomats from European capitals - now close to 400 - is not just a symbolic act of revulsion at the war crimes of which Russia stands accused. It is part of a decades-long battle to police the dividing line between espionage and diplomacy, in which the west has been accused of ignoring a recent resurgence in Russia's clandestine activities.

Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6, said last year that he suspected the west was picking up only 10% of Russia's espionage. Certainly the scale of the exodus of alleged Russian spies - probably the largest single set of expulsions in history, according to the distinguished former French diplomat François Heisbourg - may raise the question of how the west came to indulge so many Russian “diplomats” on European soil. So far, Malta, Cyprus and Hungary are the only EU member states yet to send any of them packing.

Heisbourg said there was a clear and valid distinction between a diplomat and a spy, and those being expelled from Europe are not chosen at random but because there is evidence they are in breach of the Vienna convention, the code that governs legitimate diplomacy. As well as spying, this could also involve spreading disinformation on social media.

"If you spend your time sending Twitter messages insulting the government of the host nation, if you follow the 'wolf warrior' diplomacy undertaken by Chinese diplomats, that can fall under that definition of making you persona non grata," said Heisbourg.

He said there was an art to the timing and choice of expulsions: "Self-evidently, it is easier to keep track of the spy that you do know rather than the spy you don't know. Once you know of their existence, they become useful counter-intelligence. If you don't know who they are, you have a problem.”