Moscow Cries Foul After Pro-West Moldova Expels Russian Diplomat

The Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters next to one of the towers of Moscow’s Kremlin, on March 15, 2023. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Moscow has denounced Moldova’s decision to declare a Russian diplomat “persona non grata” for reasons that remain unclear.

“These actions are aimed at dismantling Russian-Moldovan relations,” Oleg Vasnetsov, Russia’s ambassador to Moldova, said on Aug. 1.

Speaking to reporters in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, he went on to assert that Moscow would deliver a “proportionate response” to the diplomat’s apparent expulsion.

Earlier the same day, Mr. Vasnetsov was summoned by Moldova’s foreign ministry, where, according to the ministry, he was told that an unnamed Russian Embassy official was a “collaborator.”

The ministry also claimed to have information that the Russian official had engaged in activities “incompatible with diplomatic status.”

The official had since been declared “persona non grata” and ordered to leave Moldova, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Mr. Vasnetsov later confirmed that an assistant military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Chisinau had been asked to leave the country “within a certain deadline.”

“This does not contribute to the spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation,” the ambassador said after meeting with foreign ministry officials.

Russia’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, vowed to take measures in response to the move.

“We will respond,” it said in a statement.

It is not the first time that Moldova has expelled Russian diplomats from its territory.

Last year, 45 Russian Embassy employees were expelled amid claims that the embassy was involved in spying activities—an allegation denied by Moscow.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu speaks to the media after casting her vote in a snap parliamentary election in Chisinau, Moldova, on July 11, 2021. Aurel Obreja/AP Photo

‘Anti-Russian Sentiments’

The diplomat’s reported expulsion came one day after Moldovan authorities detained two local officials—a parliamentary employee and a border police officer—for suspected treason.

According to Moldovan judicial officials, the pair is suspected of having provided critical information to a foreign country.

In a July 31 statement, the Moldovan prosecutor-general’s office claimed the suspects had worked with an employee of a foreign embassy, although it did not say which one.

“The most important thing now is to make sure that this example of treason is punished,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in televised remarks.

The Russian Embassy described the arrests—and the implication of involvement—as “another manifestation of anti-Russian sentiments that are artificially fostered in Moldova.”

Fiercely pro-Western in outlook, Ms. Sandu was elected in 2020 on promises to bring Moldova into the European Union before the end of the decade.

Later this year, Moldova will hold a nationwide referendum on membership in the EU, which granted the country candidate status—alongside Ukraine—in 2022.

Under Ms. Sandu’s leadership, Moldova has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—now in its third year—and has staunchly supported Kyiv’s war effort.

Ms. Sandu, who will seek a second presidential term in October, often accuses Moscow of trying to destabilize Moldova and bring down her government.

Russian officials accuse Ms. Sandu of setting Moldova on a pro-Western course to the detriment of the country and its citizens.

Last month, Alexey Polishchuk, a top Russian diplomatic official, accused Ms. Sandu and her government of “buddying up to NATO while breaking [Moldova’s] historical ties with Russia.”

He said that such a policy would have “negative consequences for Moldova’s sovereignty and security [and] the socio-economic state of the Moldovan people.”

A general view shows the city of Tiraspol in Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria, on Feb. 23, 2023. Vladislav Bachev/Reuters

The Transnistria Factor

Relations are further complicated by the presence of an estimated 1,500 Russian troops—whom Moscow calls peacekeepers—in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria.

A slim enclave in the country’s east, Transnistria broke from Moldova in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since then, the enclave has been administered by Moscow, although it is internationally recognized as part of Moldova.

On July 29, Vadim Krasnoselsky, Transnistria’s Moscow-appointed leader, said he was open to holding talks with Chisinau in hopes of resolving their differences.

But he also rejected the latter’s call to replace Russian troops in Transnistria with internationally mandated peacekeepers.

“Transnistrians favor the continued [Russian] peacekeeping operation, as it guarantees peace and pushes the negotiating process forward,” Mr. Krasnoselsky told Russia’s TASS news agency.

He also said the dispute between Chisinau and Tiraspol, the capital of Russian-administered Transnistria, was “not over.”

Mr. Krasnoselsky went on to suggest that the enclave had no intention of joining the EU along with the rest of Moldova.

“If they [Moldova] decide to integrate into the European Union ... God bless them,” he said.

But Transnistria, he added, “has not changed its benchmarks, plans, and values, and is moving in the chosen direction.”

In 2006, Russia held a referendum in which 97 percent of Transnistrian voters allegedly voted in favor of independence and “free association with Russia.”

Moldova, however, along with most Western capitals, never recognized the results.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.