Moscow Orders Out 2 Norwegians After Oslo Expels Russian Envoys

In a spiraling feud with Norway, the Kremlin announced Tuesday that it will toss out two Norwegian diplomats following Oslo’s expulsion of two Russians accused of spying.

“Russia has indisputable evidence on the involvement of [the Norwegian diplomats] in activities incompatible with their official status,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Norway, the only North Atlantic Treaty Organization member bordering Russia, last week ordered out two Russian diplomats on espionage charges and barred three others from entering the country. It accused them of trying to recruit Norwegians as spies.

Norwegian Ambassador Per Tresselt, who was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, protested Moscow’s decision to retaliate.

“There is absolutely no cause for any counter-reactions on the part of the Russian side,” Tresselt said. “The measures . . . contribute to a negative and deplorable element in our relationship.”

The two diplomats--Rune Castberg, counselor for fisheries, and Ole Bjornoy, an official in Norway’s consulate in the Arctic port of Murmansk--were asked to leave Russia by Friday. Tresselt said he was given no details of the accusations against them.

Several recent conflicts have soured the generally good relations between the two nations. In one, Alexander Nikitin, a former Russian navy captain, is facing espionage charges in Russia on accusations that he leaked information about radiation problems in the Arctic to the Norwegian environmental group Bellona.

In the other, another former navy captain, Valery Petrenko, was convicted in Norway of drug smuggling but claimed his arrest was an attempt to learn military secrets from him. Norwegian officials strongly denied that, and Petrenko was released after serving two-thirds of an 18-month sentence.