Ministry spokesperson Andrea Tarnya called it ‘exceptional measure’, which is only applicable in the case of ‘serious infringements’. — specified decisions and their reasons are mostly not made public. They are transmitted straight to the authorities of the states,” he added. The Russian Ministry of abroad Affairs stated that they would “give an appropriate response” to the expulsion of diplomats due to the fact that “he considers this step to be unjustified and unfriendly”.
Euronews sources reported that the reason for the expulsion of Makowski and Ignatiev was their link to Right-wing calin Georgesc populistwho won the first circular of the Romanian presidential election in December 2024. The Constitutional Tribunal later annulled these results, citing intelligence evidence indicating Russian interference in the election campaign.
Georgescu, who frequently praised Russian president Vladimir Putin and the fascist Romanian leaders of the last century, gained large popularity on TikTok. Just before the presidential election, 25,000 accounts in the application, which for respective years were inactive, abruptly became active and began publishing materials in his favor. 1 of them paid $381 1000 (PLN 1.5 million) for the candidate's advertising. Intelligence found Russia behind this.
As a result, a criminal case was brought against Georgesc. He was accused of acting against the constitutional order, disseminating false information, as well as creating xenophobic and anti-Semitic groups. Georgescu himself stated that these accusations were politically motivated.
From the top wars in Ukraine Romania reduced the number of Russian diplomatic staff accredited in the country by 2 thirds. Moscow did the same for Bucharest. In 2021 Romania recognized the military attache council of the Russian embassy of Alexey Griszayev as a non grata person.
