Moldova expels Russian diplomat over espionage allegations

An official working in the Parliament of Moldova and a border police officer have been detained on suspicion of treason and conspiracy, Moldova’s Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases announced on Wednesday.

The authorities said a parliamentary official had relayed sensitive information to be used against Moldova’s interests to an employee at an unnamed embassy, adding that the border police officer had been accused of providing information to an embassy employee for personal gain.

Radio Europa Liberă Moldova, an affiliate of US-funded broadcaster RFE/RL, reported that one of the detainees was Ion Creanga, the head of the Parliament of Moldova’s legal department. Moldovan news outlets claimed that Creanga had been caught red-handed passing information to employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau.

Amid an ongoing investigation, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov to inform him that an embassy worker suspected of collaborating with the officials had been declared persona non grata and had to leave the country.

Vasnetsov confirmed the decision, telling Russian state-run news agency TASS that the assistant military attaché at the embassy had been declared persona non grata and was required to leave the country within a certain period.

“We regard this unfriendly step as yet another manifestation of the aggressive anti-Russian policy of the current Moldovan leadership, which is irresponsibly destroying Russian-Moldovan ties that have deep historical roots,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.