Moldova expels Russian diplomat and calls in envoy amid spy case

By Alexander Tanas and Tom Balmforth

CHISINAU (Reuters) – Moldova expelled a Russian diplomat and called in the Russian ambassador on Thursday to issue a formal protest, after the ex-Soviet country detained two of its own officials in a spy case linked to the Russian embassy in the capital Chisinau.

Moscow vowed to respond to the expulsion, the latest sign of fraying relations with Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and NATO member Romania and which is striving to join the European Union by 2030. It has staunchly condemned Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

“Information and evidence were obtained that attest to the conduct on the territory of … Moldova (by a Russian diplomat) of activities incompatible with his diplomatic status,” Moldova’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement came a day after state prosecutors said two Moldovan officials had been detained for suspected state treason and conspiracy for gathering and providing information to a member of a foreign embassy in Chisinau.

It did not name the country, but Moldovan media outlets and a security source identified it as the Russian embassy, which issued a statement criticising “yet another manifestation of anti-Russian sentiments that are artificially fostered”.

Pro-Western President Maia Sandu, who is running for a second term in October, said in an interview with Moldova’s Jurnal TV: “The most important thing now is to make sure that this example of treason is punished”.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry denounced the expulsion of its diplomat as an “unfriendly step” and what it said was Moldova’s “aggressive anti-Russian course”.

Relations between Moscow and Moldova have soured sharply as Chisinau has steered a pro-European course and accused Moscow of trying to destabilise it.

Moldova severely reduced the size of Russia’s embassy last August, expelling 22 diplomats and 23 employees after a media report about a large number of antennae on the embassy’s roof that it said could be used for intelligence.