Russia on Wednesday announced the expulsion of an employee of the Moldovan Embassy in Moscow, in response to a similar move by Chisinau, amid the crisis in the bilateral relations of the two countries.
The Moldovan ambassador in Moscow, Lilian Darius, was summoned on Wednesday by the Russian Foreign Ministry to hand over to him the document declaring a diplomat of the Moldovan mission in the country as persona non grata.
«On November 9, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to the Russian Federation Lilian Darius has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, to whom a ministerial note declaring an employee of the Embassy of Moldova in Moscow persona non grata has been presented,» reads the statement of the ministerial portfolio, Russian news agency TASS reported.
The text goes on to state that this is a «response to the one adopted on November 1» by which «the Moldovan side made an unmotivated decision to declare an employee of the Russian Embassy persona non grata».
Moldova justified the expulsion on the consequences of the war in Ukraine on its territory. «Missile attacks in the neighboring country continue to increase security risks, the citizens of our country increasingly feel the devastating consequences of the war,» the Moldovan Foreign Ministry explained in a statement.
«Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure also result in the growing threats to our country’s energy security,» Foreign Affairs remarked.
Moldova’s move is, in the opinion of Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, a confirmation of the course of the current Moldovan authorities to dismantle bilateral cooperation.
