Netherlands Apologizes for Arrest of Russian Diplomat

Part of spat over Greenpeace arrests by Russia

The Netherlands has apologized to Russia for arresting one of its diplomats in The Hague over the weekend, the Dutch government said Wednesday.

The arrest by Dutch police of Russian diplomat Dmitry Borodin was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Dutch Foreign Ministry conceded Wednesday.

But the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frans Timmermans "recognizes that the police officers concerned were acting in accordance with their professional responsibility in responding to a reported situation," the ministry said.