WORLD : Sweden Expels Three Soviets

Sweden today announced it has expelled a Soviet diplomat and two lower-level Soviet Embassy employees for allegedly carrying out activities incompatible with their status in the country, diplomatic code for espionage.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement all three had been told to leave Sweden and had returned home during the Christmas holidays. The statement said they had been under surveillance “some time” by the Swedish intelligence service.

The statement added that their activities had not hurt Swedish interests, but could have done so had they been allowed to continue.

It was not immediately clear what activities the three had been involved in, but Sweden’s secret police has repeatedly warned Swedish companies in recent months to be on their guard against attempts at industrial espionage.