Russia declares Romanian diplomat persona non-grata in tit-for-tat move

Moscow, July 3 – The Russian Foreign Ministry has declared a diplomat working at the Romanian Embassy in Moscow persona non grata, according to a Ministry statement issued on Wednesday.

Romanian Ambassador to Russia Cristian Istrate was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and “handed a note declaring a staff member of the Romanian Embassy persona non grata”, the statement said.

It added that the move was taken in response to Romania’s recent decision to declare a Russian embassy worker persona non grata, reported Xinhua news agency.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry declared a diplomat working at the Russian Embassy in Bucharest persona non grata on May 24 for “actions that contradict the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.