MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) – Dutch police announced Thursday that they have arrested a man suspected of breaking into a Russian embassy apartment in The Hague last week, in one of a series of recent incidents heightening political tensions between Russia and the Netherlands.
The 43-year-old suspect was tracked down thanks to fingerprints left at the scene of the burglary and arrested at a restaurant on Wednesday night, police said. They added the man was a repeat offender and is being investigated for other burglaries in the same area that fit a similar profile.
Police said the suspect will appear in court on Friday.
Traces of a break-in were discovered October 17 at an apartment belonging to a Russian embassy employee who was away on holiday. The Dutch Foreign Ministry said the burglary appeared to be a “normal” crime, contradicting speculation that the break-in might be a tit-for-tat reaction to several other recent assaults on Russian and Dutch diplomats.
Two men posing as electricians attacked senior Dutch diplomat Onno Elderenbosch at his Moscow apartment in early October, a week after Russian diplomat Dmitry Borodin was illegally detained and allegedly assaulted by police in The Hague on accusations that he had mistreated his children.