(Xinhua) -- The Russian government has apologized to Swiss Economics Minister Doris Leuthard after she was frisked and forced to remove her shoes at the St. Petersburg airport, the official Swissinfo news website reported on Monday. The incident happened on Saturday when Leuthard was stopped just before she boarded her plane on her way home following six days of talks aimed at building stronger links between Moscow and Bern.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said an inexperienced security officer at the airport had been unaware that Leuthard's diplomatic immunity exempted her from being searched, according to a spokesman of the Swiss Economics Ministry.
He said the Swiss Economics Ministry has accepted the apology and the issue was over.