UPDATE: Diplomatic tit-for-tat breaks out as Romania expels Russian diplomat

Newsroom 18/08/2010 | 08:39

Romania has responded in kind to Russia’s decision last week to declare Romanian diplomat Gabriel Grecu persona non grata and give him 48 hours to leave the country. A diplomat from the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Bucharest holding the same diplomatic rank as Grecu, first secretary, was declared persona non grata on August 17, according to a press release from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Russian special services had detained Grecu on accusations of attempting to obtain classified military information on August 16, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) press office, quoted by AFP. Grecu was allegedly caught “red-handed” and “items of spying equipment that fully reveal his hostile activity against Russia have been confiscated”, according to a FSB spokesperson.

Romanian authorities condemned the “serious violation” of diplomatic protocol in detaining the Romanian diplomat and the “inadequate treatment” to which he was subjected. In response to Romania’s reaction, Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the Russian State Duma International Committee, said that bilateral relations between the two countries could deteriorate, according to the Voice of Russia site. He added that Grecu had been expelled because he was found spying for NATO and not for Romania. “The fact that Romania acted as the conductor of other than its own interests is shocking and deplorable,” Kosachyov said.