Moscow threatens Romania after the closure of the Russian consulate in Constanta: “Unfriendly actions will not go unanswered”
The spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zaharova, stated that the Romanian authorities' decision to close the Russian consulate in Constanta will be followed by “specific measures” by Moscow.
Maria Zakharova responded to the Russian media after being asked what Russia's response will be to the closure of the consulate in Constanța and the declaration of the consul as persona non grata.
“The unfriendly actions of the Romanian authorities will certainly not go unanswered. Specific measures will be announced at the right time,” answered Maria Zaharova, according to the statement on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.
The Consul from Constanța has already left Romania
Andrei Kosilin, the consul general of Russia in Constanța, left our country on Monday as a result of the 72-hour deadline given by the authorities in Bucharest, according to Digi24.ro.
Kosilin was appointed as the consul of Russia in Constanta in January 2023. Russian media reports that he graduated from Moscow State University in 1991, majoring in International Relations.
He entered the diplomatic corps of Russia in the same year and since 2012 holds the diplomatic rank of First Class Counselor.
Since 2015, he has been a senior adviser within the Fourth European Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He held various positions in the central apparatus of the Russian Foreign Ministry and within the Russian Embassy in Romania, before being appointed consul general in Constanța.
The decision taken by the CSAT
The decision to close the consulate in Constanța was taken during Friday's CSAT meeting, convened after a Russian drone hit an apartment block in Galati and injured two people.
“The Consul General of the Russian Federation in Constanța has been declared persona non grata and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Constanța will be closed”, announced Nicușor Dan, after the end of the meeting.
The president stated that the decision was taken as a first reaction after an incident for which Moscow bears responsibility.
“Last night (Thursday to Friday – ed.) we had a serious incident, in which two Romanian citizens were injured, and the full responsibility for this incident rests with Russia, a country that has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than four years,” said President Dan.
Moscow's response to Romania's accusations
Also on Friday, after the Russian ambassador Vladimir Lipaev was summoned to the headquarters of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post appeared on the Facebook page of the Russian embassy denying responsibility for the incident in Galați and sending a warning to the authorities in Bucharest.
The Russian Embassy states that the Romanian side did not provide explanations regarding the coordinates of the drone's point of entry into Romanian airspace, its trajectory, altitude and flight speed.
“Hurrying to formulate unfounded and unobjective accusations against Russia, the Romanian side, during the meeting, as in previous similar situations, was unable to answer any of the concrete questions regarding the incident,” the statement reads.
The Russian side warned that Romania's decision regarding the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Constanta will have consequences. “The Romanian side was informed that its decision regarding the Consulate General of Russia in Constanța will be followed by response measures,” the message also states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also questioned on Friday whether the drone that crashed into a block of flats in Galati came from Russia and suggested it could have been a Ukrainian drone.
“I don't know what kind of drone exploded in Romania. Let them send us the remains,” Putin said, quoted by the Kyiv Post.
