The Russian ambassador in Bucharest was informed that he will have to reduce his subordinate staff by at least 40 people, including 11 diplomats
Articol de Sergiu Şteţ, 09 Iunie 2023, 04:01
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs that, at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Bucharest was informed on Thursday, June 8, 2023, during a meeting with the Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs, about the decision of the Romanian authorities to reduce the diplomatic staff and technical-administrative representation of the Russian Federation in Romania by limiting its number to a level close to that of the diplomatic and technical-administrative representation of Romania in the Russian Federation.
According to the decision of the Romanian authorities, the Russian Federation must reduce the number of positions in Romania by 51 positions - i.e. by 21 diplomat positions and by 30 technical-administrative personnel positions, respectively by reducing the staff actually at the position in Romania by 40 people - i.e. with 11 diplomats and 29 people belonging to the technical-administrative staff (the difference between the number of positions and the number of personnel actually at the position is explained by the fact that not all positions on the scheme of Russian personnel in Romania are currently occupied).
According to Agerpres, which quotes the MFA press release, the choice of the positions that will be reduced and the people who will have to leave Romania will (in this phase) belong to the Russian Federation, respecting the limitations related to each category (diplomats, technical-administrative personnel).
Thus, the total number of diplomatic and technical-administrative positions of the Russian Federation in Romania is reduced by 61%, and the effective number of personnel by 55.5%.
The adopted measure reflects the current level of bilateral relations, drastically reduced by Romania after the Russian Federation launched the war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Russian side was also informed about the fact that it has at most 30 days to implement the decision of the Romanian side. If this deadline is not respected, the Romanian MFA will take measures to implement the decision by withdrawing the accreditation of some members of the diplomatic and technical-administrative staff of the Russian Federation in Romania in order to ensure compliance with the ceiling decided for the limitation of Russian staff in the country.
Translated by: Radu Matei
