Moldova’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, that it has informed Russia that 45 of its embassy positions in Chisinau will be slashed, which means affected staff will be expelled from the country.
This move signals further deterioration of relations between the two countries amid Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine.
The ministry emphasized that the decision was based on “numerous unfriendly actions” towards Moldova, “which are not related to the diplomatic mandate, as well as attempts to destabilize” the country.
In all, 22 diplomats and 23 administrative staff will be affected and Moscow has until August 15, 2023 to comply with the decision.
The decision to massively reduce the number of diplomats and technical or administrative staff comes days after two local media outlets; Insider and Jurnal TV, published a joint investigation alleging that dozens of satellite dishes and antennas installed on Russia’s embassy rooftop could be used for spying.
The report noted that the movement on the roof is especially frequent ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections or visits of foreign delegations to Moldova.
Twenty-eight antennas are located on its diplomatic buildings in Chisinau, almost twice as many as those on Russian diplomatic facilities in Brussels. Also, the embassy in Chisinau is only a few hundred metres from the Moldovan Presidency, parliament and government, on the main boulevard.
However, Russian Ambassador in Chisinau, Oleg Vasnetsov, argued that the antennas were not used for espionage and their large number was due to Moldova’s “poor telecommunications and Internet infrastructure”.
Vasnetsov said that the embassy needed antennas because it was built at the end of the 1990s. “If telephony and internet worked well, there probably wouldn’t be a need for constant upgrades,” he added.
Nonetheless, Moldovan Foreign Minister, Nicu Popescu averred that a number of quite hostile Russian activities and policies “were carried out through the Russian embassy in Chisinau.”
In a press briefing, Moldova’s government spokesperson, Daniel Voda, disclosed that only ten diplomats and 15 technical personnel will remain in Moldova, which means more than a threefold reduction of the Russian diplomatic staff in the country.
“The number of diplomatic posts of Russia in Chisinau has been reduced to 10. Also, the number of auxiliary posts has been reduced to 15, so the entire diplomatic apparatus of Russia in Chisinau will operate with 25 people.”
Daniel Voda
Voda added that limiting the number of accredited Russian diplomats in Moldova creates “a situation in which fewer individuals have the chance to destabilize our country.”
“In circumstances where employees are not involved in promoting bilateral relations, it becomes obvious that their diplomatic and administrative-technical representation is excessive.”
Daniel Voda
Moscow Threatens Retaliation
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova threatened retaliation after Chisinau reduced the number of Russian diplomats, saying, the “unjustified and unfriendly actions … will not go unanswered.”
“It is a new step towards destroying bilateral relations by the Chisinau regime, in its desire to stand out in front of its Western sponsors on the side of Russophobia.
“Chisinau sinks to greater and greater depths, actively borrowing the Ukrainian and Baltic experience as well as standard measures, including making public insults about our country, banning Russian-language media and attacking the Russian language.”
Maria Zakharova
Zakharova said that the spying accusation was “a fantasy which has nothing to do with reality.”
Additionally, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “Unfortunately, Chisinau is deliberately driving our relations into a very miserable state. One can only express regret in this regard.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moldova’s leaders have repeatedly accused Moscow of conducting campaigns to try to destabilize the country, which was a Soviet republic until 1991, and became a European Union candidate last year.
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