Romania to expel Russian in tit-for-tat spy row

Romania has reacted angrily at Russia’s arrest and expulsion of one of its embassy workers in Moscow.

It has ordered that a Russian envoy of similar rank be deported in return.

In what is being seen as a tit-for-tat move, Romania’s Foreign Office demanded that the Russian diplomat leave Bucharest within 48 hours.

Yesterday, Romania’s Gabriel Grecu was said to have been caught “red-handed” by Russian officials, attempting to obtain secret military information from a Russian citizen.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a “severe breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention regarding diplomatic procedures”.

Relations between Russia and Romania have cooled since the latter joined NATO in 2004.

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