Romania expels ten Russian diplomats. On Tuesday, April 5, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official press release announcing the formal announcement. This occurred just hours after Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca told a journalist that Romania had no plans to expel any Russian diplomats because no such cases had been reported on Romanian soil.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Romanian authorities have declared ten people working in the Russian Federation’s Embassy in Bucharest as persona non grata on Romanian soil based on their activities and acts violating the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
These details were sent to the Russian side during a meeting held at the MFA headquarters on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, at the request of Minister Bogdan Aurescu, the Russian Federation’s Ambassador in Bucharest, and Mr Valery Kuzmin, Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs.
The MFA emphasized its unequivocal condemnation of the crimes committed in Bucea and other Ukrainian cities, for which Russia bears responsibility.
Romania joins Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Lithuania, and other countries in expelling Russian diplomats.
Romania and Russia’s political relationship is poorer due to the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. In a sign of solidarity, Romania has expelled ten Russian diplomats after, on April 4, the Ukrainian President gave a speech in the Romanian Parliament on the importance of hardening the sanctions against Russia. As the war progresses, official relations between Russia and Europe will deteriorate, so it is impossible to say precisely how this will affect foreign policy and beyond. Still, it is inevitable that these sanctions will have consequences.
