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10/8/13

Rusia - Netherlands relations: Putin demands Dutch arrest apology as ties worsen

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded an apology after police in the Netherlands briefly detained a Russian diplomat for alleged domestic abuse.

Condemning the incident as a breach of protocol, he said those who arrested Dmitri Borodin at his home on Saturday night should be punished.

The Dutch authorities are investigating reports Mr Borodin was assaulted.

Ties between the countries have been strained by the detention of Greenpeace activists in Russia last month.
The Netherlands launched legal action last week to free the activists, who were charged with piracy after a protest on an Arctic oil rig owned by state-controlled firm Gazprom.

The 30 people, who include two Dutch citizens, were arrested aboard the Dutch-flagged Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.

Mr Borodin, a minister counsellor at the Russian embassy, told Russian media earlier that the men who arrested him had said they were responding to an alert raised by neighbors that children were being maltreated in the flat.

Read more: BBC News - Putin demands Dutch arrest apology as ties worsen

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