The Moldovan authorities decided to limit the number of Russian diplomats accredited to the Republic of Moldova. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu, the decision is aimed at reducing the number of individuals who act to destabilize the situation in the country. The representatives of the Russian Federation were informed about the given decision, IPN reports.
Nicu Popescu noted that during many years or even decades, Moldova has been the target of different types of activities staged by the Russian Federation and rather hostile policies. A part of these were implemented also through the agency of Russia’s Embassy in Chisinau.
“We recently saw also reports about the excessive number of antennas. In our opinion, it is very important for the diplomatic service of our country and also of the other country to concentrate on the development of good relations. When a part of the diplomatic presence of a country aims its efforts at the destabilization of our country and at actions that are not related to the standard ways of action of diplomatic services, together with institutions and political decision makers, we reached the conclusion about the necessity of limiting the number of Russian diplomats accredited to the Republic of Moldova,” Nicu Popescu stated in Wednesday’s meeting of the Cabinet.
Chisinau’s reaction comes after a journalistic investigation conducted by Jurnal TV and The Insider shows that the number of antennas and broadcast devices on the rood of Russia’s Embassy in Chisinau rises annually, as does the number of mysterious persons who appear there on a constant basis. The movement on the roof takes place especially before the presidential or parliamentary elections or before visits paid by foreign delegations to the Republic of Moldova. It happened so ahead of the European Political Community Summit that was held on June 1 and in May, after a hacker attack on government networks, when thousands of secret documents became accessible to intruders. The journalists identified the men from the Embassy’s roof, who turned out to be classified liaison officers of the GRU and SVR, who have close relations with the groups of hackers who hacked emails of Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Hillary Clinton. The equipment can collect sensitive information about the country’s security, warn experts.
Russia’s Ambassador in Chisinau warned that the Moldovan authorities’ decision can very seriously affect the possibility of a dialogue between the two countries.
