Chisinau's decision to reduce the number of Russian diplomats in Moldova, appreciated by experts
The number of diplomats and technical staff of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova, established by the authorities in Chisinau, is sufficient to ensure interaction on all dimensions between the two countries, according to participants in the public debate "Diplomatic parity and its price", organized by IPN Agency. In their opinion, the Russian Federation would be interested in maintaining its influence in the region, including in Moldova, and this can be achieved implicitly through the so-called camouflaged diplomats.
The decision of the Chisinau authorities to reduce the number of diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Moldova is a natural one, said former Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration and security expert Gheorghe Bălan. In his opinion, this decision should perhaps have been taken immediately after the outbreak of war by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
"Several states have followed the principle of parity, which the Republic of Moldova has adopted and will implement in the future. Plus, given the risks that the activity of these people on the territory of our country posed for the Republic of Moldova, in the context of regional security and the war in Ukraine and the stability of the Republic of Moldova, the hybrid war that was until recently, more than 70 people with diplomatic status or technical staff in the Republic of Moldova, we see that this number was exaggerated," said Gheorghe Bălan.
The presence of a large number of Russian diplomats in Moldova now, when bilateral cooperation is not so intense, argues that this is an instrument to maintain Russian influence in our country, which Russia wants, according to Denis Cenusha, an associate expert at the Centre for East European Studies in Lithuania.
"The Republic of Moldova is part of its close neighbourhood according to the Russian Federation's foreign policy strategy, i.e. the presence of a large number of diplomats, including undercover spies, is, from Moscow's point of view, a useful tool to maintain its presence in the Republic of Moldova. How active the embassy is in the Republic of Moldova depends very much on the dynamics of the political dialogue between Chisinau and Moscow, which obviously deteriorated until the outbreak of all-out war against Ukraine. So, in the period 2021 we saw the first, let's say, cracks in these relations, during the gas crisis", said Denis Cenușă.
On 26 July, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Moldova, Oleg Vasnetsov, summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, was informed about the decision of the Moldovan authorities to equate the number of diplomatic, administrative, technical and service staff of the Russian Federation working in Chisinau with that of the Republic of Moldova in Moscow.
According to this decision, at this stage, the representation of each state, based on the principle of parity, is to constitute 10 diplomatic positions and 15 administrative, technical and service positions. At present the Republic of Moldova has six diplomats in the Russian Federation, while the Russian authorities have 40 diplomats in our country.
As reads the diplomatic note of the MFAEI, handed to the Russian side during the meeting, the decision of the Moldovan authorities should be implemented by 15 August this year.
