Romania said on March 5 that it had expelled Russian military attache Victor Makovskiy and his deputy, Evgeny Ignatiev, for breaching diplomatic rules of conduct.
"It is an exceptional measure... It is not a measure taken easily, and it is taken when the breaches are grave," Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Tarnea told Euronews.
The decision was communicated to the Russian side, which promised an "appropriate response."
Undisclosed sources told Euronews that the move was connected to the campaign of Romania's pro-Russian presidential candidate, Calin Georgescu.
The far-right politician, who won the first round of a November vote that was later annuled, was detained last month as he faces criminal investigation on suspicions of misreporting his campaign's finances and promoting war criminals and fascist organisations.
Georgesu surged to first place in the November vote with almost 23% despite being seen as a marginal and largely unknown candidate. He was expected to face pro-EU Elena Lasconi in the second round, but Romania's Constitutional Court annuled the results after a declassified intelligence report pointed to extensive Russian interference in the elections.
Georgescu's surge in popularity was also connected to a massive campaign on the TikTok social media platform shortly before the vote. He remains the front-runner for the rescheduled vote in May.
The politician has praised Romania's World War II fascist leader Ion Antonescu and Russian President Vladimir Putin and proposed a post-war partition of Ukraine.
Annulled elections have come to the attention of the Trump administration in the U.S., which has lambasted Romania for the decision as Washington adopts increasingly hostile rhetoric toward its European partners.
Oleg Sukhov
(Updated: )
