Lilian Darii
On July 19 in Chișinău, Moldovan police stopped a bus belonging to the Russian Embassy, allegedly to check documents, and removed its diplomatic license plates without explanation. While carrying out these actions, the police used force against the diplomatic mission’s staff and threatened them with arrest. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the Russian Embassy’s request to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry to send a representative to the scene to clarify the situation was ignored.
Another incident occurred on the night of July 20–21 at the “Leușeni” border crossing as Russian Embassy staff were leaving Moldova to deliver official cargo to Russia. They were unjustifiably detained at the border for more than four hours.
Moldova’s Ambassador to Moscow, L. Darii, was informed of a gross violation of the fundamental provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention, according to which the receiving state is obligated to provide every facility for the diplomatic mission to carry out its functions, to ensure freedom of movement for its staff within its territory, and to permit and protect the mission’s free communications for all official purposes.
The ambassador was informed that the Russian side reserves the right to take reciprocal measures.
