Moscow, Jul 23 (IANS): Russia has expanded its list of "unfriendly countries" to include Greece, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia, the Russian government has announced.

The blacklisted countries are subject to a quota or even a complete ban when their embassies, consulates and government bodies in Russia want to hire local employees, Xinhua news agency reported.

Now Greece has a limit of 34 people, Denmark 20, Slovakia 16, while Slovenia and Croatia will not be able to hire employees in their diplomatic missions and consular offices, the Russian government said in a statement on Friday.

"Naturally, being included in the list of unfriendly countries entails a decrease in the level of contacts (with Russia)," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing commenting on the government decision.

He did not rule out that the affected countries may face other consequences in addition to the restrictions on the recruitment of personnel.