KISHINEV: Forty-five employees from the Russian Embassy, including diplomats and technical staff, will be expelled from Moldova, Igor Zakh...
KISHINEV: Forty-five employees from the Russian Embassy, including diplomats and technical staff, will be expelled from Moldova, Igor Zakharov, advisor on communication at the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, told TASS on Wednesday.
"Overall, 45 representatives from the diplomatic mission will leave the country," he said.
The foreign ministry’s press service reported that a decision had been made to cut personnel at the Russian Embassy to Moldova to the level of staff at the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow - ten diplomats and 15 employees charged with administrative, technical and other functions. This decision was explained by the alleged numerous unfriendly moves and attempts to destabilize Moldova domestically.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova Nicolae Popescu also referred to a journalistic investigation published on Monday, which drew attention to a large number of antennas on the rooftop of the Russian Embassy located in downtown Chisinau. Journal TV reporters allege that the embassy may be collecting confidential information with the use of spying equipment on the rooftop.
Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov was summoned to the foreign ministry on Wednesday in this connection. In a conversation with journalists, he called the spy scandal just a pretext for putting into practice the decision taken a long while ago to cut the diplomatic staff. According to him, Chisinau's actions seriously undermine the chances for dialogue between the two countries.
Last October, Moldova expelled a Russian embassy employee after an unidentified missile went down near the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the move unmotivated and responded by expelling a Moldovan diplomat.
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