MOSCOW, August 1 Moscow will respond to the expulsion of the assistant military attaché of the Russian embassy in Moldova, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
«Russia will give an appropriate response,» the department said.
Earlier today, the ambassador to Chisinau Oleg Vasnetsov was summoned to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry and one of the embassy employees was declared persona non grata.
As the head of the diplomatic mission emphasized, the decision of the republic's authorities «does not contribute to the spirit of normal mutual understanding and cooperation» that Moscow is calling for. He also expressed bewilderment at the fact that the decision to expel the diplomat was made before the investigation into the alleged espionage case was completed.
The Moldovan Information and Security Service, together with the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Crime and Special Cases, conducted searches in the parliament building on July 31. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic reported the detention for 72 hours of a parliamentary employee and a representative of the border police, who were accused of treason. Moldovan media wrote that one of the suspects is the head of the parliament's legal department, Ion Creanga. According to the publications, he allegedly passed on classified information to employees of the Russian embassy.
The diplomatic mission rejected accusations of its employees' involvement in espionage. The embassy's statement said that this is another manifestation of artificially inflamed anti-Russian sentiments in Moldova. It is emphasized that the current «disinformation» about the alleged espionage activities of Russian diplomats is related to the pre-election processes in the republic.
Relations between Moscow and Chisinau began to deteriorate after President Maia Sandu, who adheres to a pro-European policy, came to power in Moldova at the end of 2020. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the republic, under the current leadership, is striving to become an unfriendly country for Russia. Moscow called on Chisinau to listen to the interests of its own citizens and not to interfere with the development of human contacts and interregional ties. As the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized, Moscow is not pleased that the West is using Moldova for anti-Russian purposes.