BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, May 12 (UPI) -- Slovakia has expelled a Russian diplomat on suspicion of spying, local media reported Wednesday.
The Slovak foreign ministry delivered the standard diplomatic note of protest to the Russian embassy saying one of its staff had been conducting activities "incompatible with his status as a member of the embassy's diplomatic staff."
The unnamed diplomat was given 72 hours to leave the country.
Russia has protested against the move, saying it reserved the right to respond to the expulsion. Diplomats say that means Russia will likely expel a Slovak diplomat in response.
As part of the former Czechoslovakia, Slovakia was part of the former Soviet bloc for more than 40 years.
Slovakia joined the European Union on May 1 and NATO a few weeks earlier.
Slovakia has around 105 soldiers operating in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led mission and is an important, though largely, symbolic ally of the United States in the newly expanded European Union.
