On Monday (16 August), Russia's Federal Security Service said it had detained Romanian diplomat Gabriel Grecu after he was caught "red-handed" trying to obtain military intelligence from a Russian counteragent, the Russian press reported.
"If it will be confirmed that Russian argumentation is founded, and Romania's is not, this could generate a worsening of bilateral relations not only in the political field, but also in economic relations," Kosachev is quoted as saying by Romania's HotNews website.
Bucharest responded the next day, ordering a Russian diplomat in Romania to leave the country within 48 hours.
But the tit-for-tat continued, as Moscow threatened Romania with a response to the expulsion.
"We reserve the right to act in response," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, without going into detail.
NATO the enemy
Kosachev said the Romanian diplomat caught red-handed in Moscow had been obtaining sensitive information to be passed on to NATO rather than Romania.
"Romania and Russia have enough unsolved problems, and this implies more delicacy. And the fact that Romania now works for others' interests, which have nothing to do with its own interests, appears to us as astonishing, insulting and in no way conducive to improving our relations," Kosachev went on.
Kosachev said that until now, Romania had not made itself known in geopolitical games, as in his words the country had special interests only in Moldova.
"It is difficult to imagine that Romania would have special interests in Russia, even less in the field of covert operations," he insisted.
Kosachev also said Romania should not have expelled the Russian diplomat without making similar accusations against him. Without an accusation, such an expulsion contradicts good diplomatic manners and the Russian reaction would be tough, he warned.
Agencies recall that Russia reacted angrily when Romanian President Traian Basescu announced last February that his country had accepted an invitation from US President Obama to host an anti-missile shield (EurActiv 05/02/10).
Moldova, the conflicting interest?
AFP writes that the strong support of Romania for the new pro-Western government in the ex-Soviet state of Moldova has raised fears in Russia that Bucharest is seeking to end Russian influence in the country.
In the meantime, the Russian daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoting unnamed official sources as saying that Romanian diplomat Gabriel Grecu had tried to obtain secret plans about the positioning of Russian forces in Transnistria.
Transnistria, a Moldovan region east of the Dniester river, has been considered a 'frozen conflict' area since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. It has a predominantly ethnic Russian and Ukrainian population. Although internationally Transnistria is part of Moldova, de facto its authorities do not exercise any power there (EurActiv 19/04/10).
