Moldova to Reduce Russian Embassy Staff Following Spy Scandal
Moldova has decided to reduce the personnel of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau in connection with an investigation into the surveillance activities of Russian intelligence agencies. According to Jurnal TV, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, announced this during a meeting of the Moldovan government.
"There will be fewer individuals attempting to destabilize Moldova," he said.
Popescu emphasized that Russia has acted hostilely towards Moldova for many years, particularly through its embassy in Chisinau. As a result, the Moldovan government has taken measures to decrease the number of embassy personnel.
"It is essential for diplomatic services to focus on developing good relations. When actions are geared towards destabilization and not related to diplomatic activities, it becomes problematic. We have agreed on the need to limit the number of accredited diplomats from Russia," stated Nicu Popescu.
The Moldovan government has announced that the number of accredited diplomats and technical-administrative staff at the Russian Embassy in Chisinau will be reduced from 84 to 25.
During a briefing, the spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, stated this, as reported by Deschide.MD.
According to him, the number of diplomatic positions has been reduced to 10, while the number of technical staff has been reduced to 15.
Earlier, information was revealed by Jurnal TV and The Insider, alleging that dozens of antennas and satellite dishes were installed on the roof of the Russian Embassy in Moldova, used by Russian intelligence agencies for surveillance purposes.
According to the investigation, the number of dishes and transmitters on the roof of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau has been increasing each year. Journalists have occasionally observed mysterious individuals on the rooftop of the diplomatic representation and neighboring buildings. According to reports, these individuals are secret officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) and the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), closely associated with hacker groups that have hacked the emails of European leaders such as Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron, as well as former American leaders like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Russian intelligence agents have been seen on the embassy's rooftop before Moldova's parliamentary and presidential elections, prior to the summit of the European Political Community held near Chisinau, and on May 14, during the elections for the head of Gagauzia, an autonomous region in Moldova.
Following the publication of this information, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova called on Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov to provide an explanation regarding the actions of Russian intelligence services in Chisinau.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated that the country's intelligence services are aware of the situation and will propose a "resolution to this problem" in the future.