Moldova Expels Three Russian Diplomats

On 31 March, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry declared three employees of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau persona non grata, NewsMaker reports.  

‘The decision of the Moldovan authorities is based on clear evidence of activities that contradict the diplomatic status on the territory of Moldova,’ the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.  

The ministry sent a note to Russian Ambassador Oleg Ozerov, in which it ‘declared three employees of the Russian Embassy as undesirable persons’.  

Ozerov said that among those expelled was Alexander Andreev, co-chairman of the Russian Joint Control Commission. The commission includes representatives of unrecognised Transnistria, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE.  

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry did not specify the reasons for the expulsion of the Russian diplomats.

As The Gaze reported, in October 2024, European Union spokesman Peter Stano said that the presidential elections in Moldova, as well as the referendum on the country's European integration, were held in an environment of unprecedented interference and intimidation by Russia and its proxies.