Slovakia has announced the expulsion of three Russian Embassy staff based on information from the country's intelligence service and gave them 72 hours to leave.
"Slovakia has decided to expel three Russian Embassy staff," Foreign Ministry spokesman Juraj Tomaga said.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs...at the same time strongly urges the Embassy of the Russian Federation that their representatives perform their activities in line with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations," the ministry said in a statement, without giving any details.
Slovak news website Dennikn.sk said without citing a sources that police arrested at least three Slovaks -- a colonel from the Defense Ministry, a member of the Slovak counterintelligence service SIS, and a person linked to a news website that the government shut down this month for spreading misinformation -- for suspected espionage for Russia.
The Slovak police and prosecutors announced they will hold a news conference on March 15 to elaborate on the case.
Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad pasted a screenshot of the Dennikn.sk article on his Facebook page and wrote that he could confirm that military intelligence provided police with "key intelligence information, including clear evidence" related to the case, but he gave no details.
"This is only the beginning, I believe the structure has opened through nicely. And we will go further. Clearly and thoroughly," Nad wrote.
The Russian Embassy in Bratislava had no immediate comment.