The Government in the middle of February recalled six ambassadors. Under the President’s decrees of February 26, two of them stopped work. The other four continue to hold office. In a response to an inquiry made by IPN, the presidential office said the issue is being considered.

The following ambassadors were recalled by the Government decision approved in the middle of February:

- Mihai Gribincea, Ambassador to Romania and simultaneously to Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia;

- Vitalie Rusu, Ambassador to the Czech Republic and simultaneously to the Holy See;

- Victor Osipov, Ambassador to Austria and simultaneously to Slovakia, Moldova’s permanent representative to the OSCE and representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna;

- Veaceslav Dobîndă, Ambassador to Sweden and simultaneously to Finland, Norway and the Republic of Iceland;

- Denis Jelimalai, Ambassador to China;

- Ștefan Gorda, Ambassador to Bulgaria and simultaneously to North Macedonia and Albania.

Vitalie Rusu and Ștefan Gorda completed their duties following the President’s decrees of February 26. They both, as of March 31, were transferred to posts in the central staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. The decrees concerning the other ambassadors haven’t been signed.

“In this connection, we note that as the diplomatic mission works without an ambassador for an indefinite period of time, its efficiency diminishes. At the same time, the correlation of the process of appointing and dismissing the heads of diplomatic missions is affected also by the epidemiological situation generated by the novel coronavirus at global level,” says the presidential office’s response to IPN.