Moscow summons Romania's ambassador after consulate closure

Russia has summoned Romania's ambassador to Moscow for a stern reaction following Bucharest's decision to close the Russian Consulate General in Constanța. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced that the Romanian diplomat, Cristian Istrate, was called in to be informed about "retaliatory measures" being adopted by Moscow.

“

The Romanian side will be informed about the 'retaliatory measures' adopted by Moscow.

The diplomatic escalation stems from an incident on the night of May 29th, when a drone crashed into an apartment building in Galați, Romania, sparking a fire and injuring two individuals. In response, Romania declared the Russian consul in Constanța persona non grata and ordered the consulate's closure, with the diplomat departing Romania on June 1st.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan stated that a technical investigation concluded the crashed drone was a Russian-made "Gheran-2" model. He cited evidence including Cyrillic inscriptions found on recovered fragments and technical components consistent with Russian-manufactured drones previously identified in Romania.

“

This is, without a doubt, the conclusion of the technical report finalized by Romanian state specialists. The investigation established this based on a consistent set of technical evidence.

Following the drone incident, Russia's ambassador to Bucharest was summoned by Romania's Foreign Ministry. Zakharova had previously warned that "unfriendly actions by the Romanian authorities will not go unanswered," promising concrete measures from Russia. The closure of the Constanța consulate, a move described by some analysts as a significant diplomatic signal, has been met with mixed reactions, with some deeming it a firm response and others insufficient.

“

At the diplomatic level, yes, I think they are sufficient, because these are very strong measures that have not been taken before in Romania. It is a very strong diplomatic signal sent to the Russians.