Moldova summons Russian ambassador to fire embassy staffer after altercation with border guards

The Eastern European country of Moldova on Wednesday summoned the Russian ambassador to expel a member of embassy staff. The envoy was called to declare the embassy member persona non grata.

According to Daniel Vode, the government press secretary, the decision was related to actions of the Russian embassy staff towards the Moldovan border guards who denied entry to a delegation led by Russian politician Rustam Minnikhanov earlier this week at the Chisinau airport

Notably, Minnikhanov, governor of Russia's Tatarstan region was scheduled to attend a forum in the semi-autonomous Gagauzia region, which holds elections on April 30 to name the head of its government. However, Moldova perceived Minnikhanov's visit as an attempt to interfere with the internal politics of the country.

"Supporting a candidate at local elections in Moldova is not a valid reason and the authorities ask Russian bureaucrats to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country," the border guard service said in a statement released.

Moldova is wary of Moscow attempting to destabilise the country, especially in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war. It is perhaps one of the reasons why Moldova applied to join the European Union last year alongside Ukraine.

Russia plans to destabilise Moldova: Report

Recently, a 'clandestine' document accessed by CNN showed Russia's secret plan to destabilise Moldova over a 10-year period.

The document titled "Strategic objectives of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Moldova" was written in 2021 by the Russian security service FSB. It lays out a 10-year strategy to bring the former Soviet republic nation to its knees.

Five pages long and divided into short, medium and long-term aims, the secret document goes into detail about how to bring Moldova into the Russian sphere of influence.

The report states that Moscow will support pro-Russian groups in Moldova, make use of the orthodox church and eventually threaten to cut off supplies of natural gas after making the nation dependent on Russian supplies.

When quizzed about the report, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said they [Moscow] knew nothing about the existence of such a report.

"I do not rule out that this is another fake. Russia has always been and remains open to building good-neighbourly, mutually beneficial relations, including with Moldova," said Peskov.

Prior to the release of the report, USA's National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby said that Moscow is wary of the pro-western government in Moldova and hence deployed individuals connected to Russian intelligence in order to foment insurrection.

(With inputs from agencies)

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