Moldova has declared an employee of the Russian embassy an undesirable person

The authorities of Moldova have declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Chisinau persona non grata. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova reported this on April 19.

The expulsion of the employee of the Russian embassy is connected with the April 17 incident at Chisinau airport. Border guards refused entry to the country to the head of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnykhanov. At the same time, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, two employees of the Russian embassy behaved in an “unpleasant manner” at the airport.

On Wednesday morning, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Prime Minister of Moldova, Dorin Rechan, called the behavior of Russian officials unacceptable and asked to consider the possibility of declaring one of them an undesirable person, and prohibiting the second from visiting the airport. The Moldovan authorities do not specify what exactly the unpleasant behavior consisted of.

Mynnykhanov flew to Moldova on April 17 to participate in the so-called international congress of people’s diplomacy “Friendship of Nations – 2023”. It was held in the autonomous region of Gagauzia. The head of Tatarstan arrived at the invitation of the candidate for the head of Gagauzim Viktor Petrov and the vice-chairman of the parliament of the region Alexander Sukhodolsky, who were recently on a visit to Tatarstan.

Moldovan border guards did not allow the head of the Russian region to leave the plane. According to Minnikhanov himself, the Moldovan authorities assigned him the status of an undesirable person. The plane with Minnykhanov flew back from Chisinau to Russia. The border service of Moldova rejected Minnikhanov’s words that he is an undesirable person for Chisinau. According to the department’s statement, the persons who were banned from entering the country on Monday “presented contradictory information about the purpose of the visit,” RBC quotes. It was also stated that “supporting a candidate in local elections in our country is not a valid reason [для въезда в страну]and the authorities ask Russian officials to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country.”