Russia says expelled 2 Romanian diplomats

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Wednesday said it expelled two diplomats from Romania’s diplomatic mission in Moscow in retaliation to an earlier decision by Bucharest regarding its own embassy personnel.

A statement by the Foreign Ministry said it summoned Liliana Burda, Romania’s charge d’affaires in Moscow, and handed her a note declaring the defense attache and his deputy “persona non grata.”

The measure is a response to the “previously unmotivated decision” by the Romanian side to expel Russia's military attache and his deputy in Bucharest.

In March, Romania expelled the two Russian officials, saying their activities breached provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.