A diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest was declared persona non grata in Romania on Friday, IPN reports, with reference to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the Ministry, the person allegedly carried out activities contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“These elements were communicated to the Russian side today, May 24, 2024, after summing to the MFA headquarters, by order of Minister of Foreign Affairs Luminița Odobescu, of chargé d'affaires a.i. of the Russian Federation in Bucharest,” the quoted source specified.

In connection with the news about the persona non-grata, the Romanian press reported that a Romanian citizen was preventively arrested, being accused by DIICOT prosecutors of treason after he sent to the Russian Embassy in Bucharest images of Romanian or NATO military facilities located near Tulcea and also images of a military convoy moving towards Ukraine.

The courts’ portal confirms that the case concerns Piscan Alexandru Dorin, who two months ago through his Facebook page informed that he wants to run in the local elections for the mayoralty of the municipality as an independent, but doesn’t appear on the list of candidates.

“From the evidence administered in this case, it emerged that, starting with 2022, he has supervised Romanian or NATO military facilities located in the vicinity of Tulcea, collecting military information and taking photos of military combat technique and movement of personnel in the border area with Ukraine, which he transmitted to diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Bucharest. Following the carried-out home searches, a number of proofs were identified and seized,” DIICOT said in a press release.