The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced this Saturday the “scandalous” behavior of a Norwegian consul in Russia, after the dissemination on social networks of a surveillance video of a hotel reception in which, obviously exasperated, she launches: “I hate the Russians”.
In this video broadcast this Saturday by the Mash channel on Telegram, supposedly close to the Russian special services, a woman presented as Elisabeth Ellingsen, Norwegian consul in Murmansk, is clearly overwhelmed by an imposed room change and a cleaning not carried out in a hotel of this northwestern Russian city.
Video viewed more than 500,000 times
In particular, he throws himself at a hotel reception: “I hate the Russians. Give me another room, I’m not moving from here. (…) And how do you decide that a room is clean? You know, I’m used to cleaning rooms, I am from Scandinavia, not like a Russian woman who cleans to the best of her ability it is not clean will I be able to sleep in a bed?
She notes that her colleague had the same problem, “forced to change rooms on the 14th floor for some reason.”
Accompanied by the message “Here’s a lesson in European tolerance for hotel employees in Murmansk from Norwegian consul Elisabeth Ellingsen,” the video had been viewed more than 500,000 times by Saturday afternoon.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry is considering a response to this outrageous act of hatred, nationalism and xenophobia,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
The consulate temporarily closed
For its part, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said it “deeply regrets” this incident.
“The sentiments expressed do not reflect Norwegian policy or the Norwegian attitude towards Russia and the Russian people,” he said, adding that the ministry was dealing with the incident “through appropriate channels.”
According to the website of the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow, the Norwegian Consulate General in Murmansk has been temporarily closed since July 1 due to the “difficult” situation in bilateral relations.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry did not say whether the incident involving the consul occurred before or after the consulate closed.
This incident comes at a time when relations between Russia and the West are experiencing an unprecedented period of tension due to the Russian offensive in Ukraine, which has triggered a barrage of European and US sanctions against Moscow.
Source: BFM TV
