CHISINAU: Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicolae Popescu said on Wednesday that he doesn’t rule out that more Russian diplomats may be expelle...
CHISINAU: Moldova’s Foreign Minister Nicolae Popescu said on Wednesday that he doesn’t rule out that more Russian diplomats may be expelled from the country for conducting what he calls "a hostile policy."
"As for Russia, we see a hostile, aggressive, wrong, disrespectful policy toward Moldova. That is why, everyone, me included, has questions to the number of persons, who are diplomats or those engaged in other activities, who do nothing to resolve or minimize problems in relations with Russia," he said in an interview with the Voice of Bessarabia television channel. He did not rule out that if such a policy continues, his country’s authorities may expel Russian diplomats again.
"There have been several expulsions of employees of the Russian diplomatic mission. If the unfriendly policy toward Moldova is continues, <…> response, including diplomatic, will follow," Popescu said.
Earlier, lawmakers with Moldova’s ruling Party of Action and Solidarity called for reducing the number of Russian diplomats, motivating this move by the fact that Moldova’s embassy in Moscow has not more than ten diplomats, whereas Russia’s embassy in Chisinau has around 30 employees.
Relations between Chisinau and Moscow chilled after Maia Sandu was elected Moldovan president in 2020. After the elections she said that she was planning to visit Moscow to discuss important problems in bilateral relations, including Moldova’s exports to Russia, supplies of Russian gas, and support for Moldovan nationals working in Russia. The visit however did not take place and Moldova’s leadership began to skip meetings in the CIS format. Moreover, after the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Moldova sided with the West in its criticism of Russia’s actions. Last year, it banned a number of Russian mass media outlets and announced the establishment of a national center for countering Russia’s "propaganda." Currently, dialogue between the two states is maintained at the embassy level.
Meanwhile, according to a public opinion poll conducted by Moldova’s Intellect Group pollster, the bulk of Moldovans (57%) do not approve of the government’s course toward worsening relations with Russia, and only 16.4% of the polled said that they support severing relations with Russia. The rest did not answer this question.
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