The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova refused to accredit a correspondent of RIA Novosti news agency to report on the October 20 presidential election. The institution invoked the non-compliance of the application with the country’s legislation.

“Taking into account the provisions of the national legislation, your request was rejected, as it does not meet the requirements regarding the accreditation of foreign journalists in the Republic of Moldova,” reads the MFA’s response, which was confirmed for IPN.

The MFA’s refusal to provide accreditation to RIA Novosti’s correspondent is based on the negative opinion of the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS), given that RIA Novosti is under international sanctions.

On September 25, the SIS asked the operators to block the access of Moldovan users to the portal ria.ru and six other web pages through which a series of falsehoods were distributed on the grounds that they are considered to pose risks to national security.