Austria's foreign ministry said on Friday it was expelling four Vienna-based Russian diplomats over “activities incompatible with their diplomatic status”, a term that, according to the Jerusalem Post, is usually used for spying.

Three of them worked at Russia's embassy to Austria and one at the Russian delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on military security and arms control, the ministry said. The move brings to 18 the number of Russian diplomats Austria has expelled since 2020.