Russian diplomats quit the Republic of Moldova following the authorities' decision to cut their numbers
This morning, a Russian plane landed at Chisinau International Airport. It is to transport Russian diplomats who have ended their work in Chisinau, after the government authorities decided to reduce the number of employees of the Russian Embassy in Moldova.
According to the decision published by the Foreign Ministry, 22 diplomats and 23 employees in administrative positions were to leave Moldova by 15 August.
In the meantime, according to press images, the two coaches with diplomatic and technical staff of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau arrived at the airport a short while ago.
The Moldovan authorities decided at the end of July that, at this stage, the representation of each state, based on the principle of parity, will constitute 10 diplomatic positions and 15 administrative, technical and service positions. At present, the Republic of Moldova has six diplomats accredited to the Russian Federation, while the Russian authorities had 40 diplomats in our country, in addition to the technical staff of the Russian Embassy.
The above-mentioned decision of the Moldovan authorities has to be implemented by the 15th of August this year.
Recently, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS that Chisinau's decision to massively reduce the number of Russian diplomats and technical staff of our foreign missions in Moldova can only be seen "as another unfriendly step towards the systematic destruction of Russian-Moldovan relations". The official also said that there would certainly be a response from the Russian Federation.
