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Moldova declares Russian military attache’s aide persona non grata — ambassador

Oleg Vasnetsov recalled that exactly one year ago, a large-scale campaign of unsubstantiated accusations against the Russian embassy over alleged "spying activities" and "interference" in the internal processes in the country had already taken place

CHISINAU, August 1. /TASS/. The Moldovan Foreign Ministry has declared an assistant to the military attache of the Russian embassy persona non grata after local media reported that two Moldovan officials had been charged with treason, Russia’s ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov told the media after visiting the ministry.

"An assistant to the military attache has been declared persona non grata and must leave the country within a certain deadline," Vasnetsov said.

He recalled that exactly one year ago, a large-scale campaign of unsubstantiated accusations against the Russian embassy over alleged "spying activities" and "interference" in the internal processes in the country had already taken place. Then, 45 staffers of the Russian embassy were expelled from Moldova. Earlier today, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it would not leave this step of the Moldovan side without a response.

The day before, the Moldovan prosecutor's office reported the detention of an employee of the Moldovan parliament and a border police officer on the suspicion of treason and of passing information to a foreign embassy. The prosecutor's office did not mention either the country in question or the names of officials. The local media have speculated that the head of the parliament's legal department, Ion Creanga, was one of the detainees.

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