Russia expels Romanian diplomats in retaliatory measure

The Russian Federation has announced the expulsion of two Romanian diplomats in response to the recent designation of Russian diplomats in Bucharest as personae non gratae.

According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this decision was conveyed following the summoning of Romania's chargé d'affaires in Moscow.

"On April 9, Liliana Burda, Romania’s charge d'affaires in Russia, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, where she received a note regarding the declaration of the defense attache at the Romanian embassy in Moscow, along with his deputy, as 'personae non gratae,'" the Foreign Ministry stated.

"This measure is a response to Romania's unfounded decision to declare the military attache at the Russian embassy in Bucharest and his assistant as personae non gratae," the Russian Foreign Ministry explained.

On March 5, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russia’s chargé d'affaires, Yelena Kopnina, to formally notify her that the Russian military attaché and his assistant had been declared personae non gratae for engaging in activities deemed inconsistent with the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In response, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Romania of attempting to link its internal political crisis to Russia, thereby deflecting responsibility onto its neighboring state.

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