All news

Moldovan presidential spokesman slams detention of Russian journalist as provocation

Russia’s Union of Journalists earlier reported that the Moldovan security services had detained Russian journalist Dmitry Yermolayev at Chisinau airport

CHISINAU, May 12. /TASS/. The detention of Russian journalist Dmitry Yermolayev at Chisinau airport was a provocation, Moldovan Presidential Spokesman Ion Cheban said.

"Chief Editor of the Russian News weekly Dmitry Yermolayev’s detention in Chisinau is another provocation of the Eurounionists (supporters of Moldova’s unification with Romania and integration into the European Union) aimed at disrupting the policy of restoring friendship and strategic partnership with Russia," Cheban told TASS. He pointed out that this was not the first time when Moldova’s security services detained Russian journalists, which had become the reason for a chill in relations between the two countries in the past.

Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Union of Journalists reported that the Moldovan security services had detained Yermolayev at Chisinau airport. The Union added that the Russian journalist had been questioned for several hours with no particular reason. However, he was released after the Moldovan security services had learned that diplomats from the Russian embassy planned to tackle this issue.

Yermolayev is not the first Russian journalist to face trouble at Chisinau airport. Earlier Moldova’s authorities prevented crews from Russia’s Rossiya 24 and Zvezda TV channels from entering the country, claiming that the journalists did not have an accreditation.