The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) announced that a representative of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest was declared persona non grata and left Romania last week. In response, Moscow criticised the Romanian authorities’ decision and said it would “respond proportionately.”

Romania’s MAE said the decision was taken “considering the incompatibility of the activities of the representative in question with the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

The Russian news agency TASS then reported that Moscow plans a similar response. It quoted Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, who said: “Obviously, we will respond proportionately to Romania’s move.”

She also criticised the Romanian authorities’ decision as being “groundless,” adding that it was based on “far-fetched pretexts.”

Romania previously expelled ten Russian diplomats in April this year. In response, about a month later, Russia declared ten representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Moscow persona non-grata.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Diana Opryshko/Dreamstime.com)