Russia has declared an employee of the Moldovan embassy persona non grata

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia declared an employee of the Moldovan embassy in Moscow persona non grata, and also banned a number of Moldovan officials from entering the country. to the head of the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anna Revenko, and members of parliament from the ruling Action and Solidarity party, Oaz Nanta, Oles Stamata, and Liliana Karpa, for their “anti-Russian statements”.

According to Kommersant, the consul of Moldova is being expelled from Russia. This is a mirror response to last week’s expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Chisinau, who was an employee of the consulate.

It was 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. 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.

On April 25, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced a “decisive protest” to the Moldovan ambassador to Moscow, Lilian Darius, in connection with the “unfriendly steps taken by the official Chisinau in relation to Russia” and declared an employee of the Moldovan embassy persona non grata. The message of the Russian diplomatic department states that this decision was a response to the allegedly “unmotivated” decision of the Moldovan authorities to expel the Russian diplomat.

According to Kommersant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia banned the entry into the country of the head of the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs, Anna Revenko, and members of parliament from the ruling party Action and Solidarity, Oaz Nanta, Oles Stamata, and Liliana Karpa, for their “anti-Russian statements”, as well as the addition of Chisinau to the sanctions list. of the European Union, which includes Russian citizens.