Russia responds to Romania: Two diplomats expelled amid tensions

• Russia expelled two Romanian diplomats: The decision was announced by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in response to previous actions by Romania.
• Romanian chargé d'affaires received a note: Liliana Burda was informed that the Romanian defense attaché and his deputy were declared undesirable persons.
• Background of the conflict: Earlier, Romania declared Russian diplomats as personae non gratae, following Moscow's allegations of hybrid activities.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the expulsion of two Romanian diplomats in response to previous actions by Bucharest. The Romanian chargé d'affaires, Liliana Burda, received a note declaring the Romanian defense attaché and his deputy as undesirable persons. As the statement from the Russian ministry reads, Romanian decision wasn't motivated by anything.

At the beginning of March, Romania declared two Russian diplomats—the defense attaché at the Russian embassy in Bucharest and his deputy—as personae non gratae. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Moscow at that time of a "series of hybrid actions aimed at undermining democracy in Romania."

This was a reaction, as stated by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to "absurd and completely baseless" accusations from the Russian intelligence services that the Romanian prosecutor's office's decision to charge the far-right politician Călin Georgescu was supposedly ordered from Brussels.

Georgescu was a favorite in the second round of the presidential elections in December last year, which was annulled by the Constitutional Court. The prosecutor's office launched an investigation against him over suspected election irregularities.

This far-right politician praised the fascist leaders of 1930s Romania and expressed admiration for the policies of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.