Chisinau calls the trio persona non-gratae after accusing the convicted MP of supporting his escape to Transnistria.
Moldova ordered three Russian diplomats to leave the country after denounced the embassy for helping Prokremlin lawmakers escape imprisonment and urged Russia to declare a “appropriate response.”
Moldova’s foreign ministry expelled employees of the Russian embassy on Monday, saying in a telegram on the messaging app that the decision was “based on clear evidence regarding the implementation of activities that violate its diplomatic status.”
The move sparked an immediate response from Moscow, a report by state-run news agency Ria Novosti, which the Russian Foreign Ministry announced.
A diplomatic spat was born after Moldova accused the Russian embassy on Monday of engineering and accusing Russian MPs of allowing them to flee to the Russian-backed Break-Away Transnistria region.
The case of Alexander Nestevsiy is the latest claim Moscow has denies, accusing the pro-European government of Moldova of interfering with the political landscape.
Moldova’s security services released footage that allegedly showed Nestevsky entering the Russian Embassy in Chisinau on March 18, a day before the court sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
Lawmakers rejected accusations of illegally channeling money to pro-Russian parties related to fugitive Iranian Shoal in the 2023 local elections, as well as a referendum on the 2024 presidential vote and Moldova’s EU aspirations.
Moldova’s security services said on the day of his sentence that Nesterovschii was driven in a white car with diplomatic plates visible in the video in the Transnistria region, away from control of Moldovan in the early 1990s.
In a statement, the Russian Embassy said allegations of interference in the lawmakers’ cases were unfounded and unacceptable. It said it called on Moldovan authorities to “absorb provocative speculation.”
Russia’s Ambassador Moldova Olegoozerov was quoted from Ria Novosti for saying that the co-chair of the Joint Management Committee, a peacekeeping force that has overseen the Transnistrian region since 1992, was one of the ousted diplomatic trio.
Moldova will hold parliamentary elections this fall, which will mark a popular test of the pro-EU government course.
On Monday, along with foreign ministers from Spain, Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Poland, as well as top European Union diplomats and defense commissioners, they said they were ready to adopt new sanctions against Russia over the “war of aggression” in Ukraine.
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