"Persona non grata": This term (according to international law) refers to a person who has been denied agrement, that is, the consent of the host state to consider this or that person as a diplomatic representative of another state.
As the "Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations" of 1961 says, a person with the status of a diplomat is exempt from criminal prosecution if he violates the laws of the host state. This is called "diplomatic immunity". Why did it become necessary to have the legal status of “persona non grata”? Its significance lies in the fact that the receiving state does not have the right to hold a diplomat who has committed a misconduct or crime liable. But because of the deed he committed, his stay on the territory of the state is impossible for various reasons.
Diplomats are, in general, law-abiding people, and intentional offenses on the territory of a foreign state are committed only in exceptional cases. First of all, when the interests of their country so require or (which is muchless often), in accordance with personal ideas of good and evil.
A third option is also possible - committing such an offense for material reward, but this is completely from the category of unscientific fiction. Only a representative of some marginal African or Asian country, where a coup d'état takes place every six months, can go for such an act. For example, smuggling drugs into the country under diplomatic cover, or something else no less vile.
In 2009, an event made a lot of noise, as a result of which the consul of the Consulate General of Finland in Russia received the status of "persona non grata". The diplomat brought under diplomatic cover to his country a child from a mixed Russian-Finnish family. The boy had not only Finnish, but also Russian citizenship, so he was under the protection of Russian laws.
"Persona non grata" can be assigned not only to an acting diplomat already working in the territory of a foreign country. When appointing a new official to an embassy or consulate, the diplomatic department makes a request for an agrement, and if the receiving party agrees, the employee becomes a “persona grata”. Otherwise - "persona non grata" and refusal to enter the country in the status of a diplomat.
It's not uncommon for this status to be announced for something other than some past misconduct. Sometimes this is a manifestation of dissatisfaction with certain actions of the state that sent the diplomat,suspicions of espionage or in response to a similar measure against their representatives of the diplomatic corps.
During the Cold War, the practice of declaring "persona non grata" was widely used. During the conflict, the diplomatic departments of the United States, Great Britain or the USSR expelled workers from enemy embassies by literally dozens.
It's no secret that the diplomatic corps always has a certain number of intelligence officers (primarily intelligence) who carry out activities on the territory of the host country that have little in common with the status of a diplomat. There's nothing you can do about it, that's the way people work. And legally nothing can be done about them - as in the recent case with an attempt by an American diplomat to recruit a Russian military man. In this case, "persona non grata" is the only legal way to get rid of the unwanted person's stay in the country.
