Romania has expelled ten Russian diplomats in response to the atrocities committed by the Russian military in Ukraine.
Shocking images with civilian bodies lying in the streets of Bucha and other Ukrainian localities have sparked a new wave of accusations against Russia. In an address to the UN Security Council the Kyiv leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, said Moscow must be brought to justice for the war crimes committed by its military in Ukraine. Zelensky says Russia must be removed from the Security Council or the Security Council should be dissolved, because it fails to serve its purpose of guaranteeing security. Russia, as permanent member, can block by veto any decision of the Security Council, including the decisions that involve it directly. In response, the Kremlin said the accusations of Russian troops having executed civilians in Bucha are staged.
After talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Layen, said the perpetrators of these heinous crimes must not go unpunished. The European official also said the EU has set up a joint investigation team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity and that there are ongoing talks between Eurojust and the International Criminal Court to join forces and for the Court to be part of the Joint Investigation Team. The International Criminal Court has been investigating, as of March 3, the accusations of war crimes in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, western countries are targeting Russia with new sanctions in response to the atrocities committed in Ukraine and many countries have decided to expel Russian diplomats. On Tuesday, Romania declared ten representatives of the Russian Federation in Bucharest „personae non gratae”. The Russian Ambassador in Bucharest, Valery Kuzmin, was informed of the decision, after being summoned by Minister Bogdan Aurescu at the Romanian Foreign Ministry ‘s headquarters. According to the document, these persons’ activities and actions come against the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry, the decision is a response to the horrible crimes in Bucha and other Ukrainian localities, crimes which Russia is responsible for.
Also on Tuesday, the EU announced it declared 19 Russian diplomats ‘undesirable persons’, for „engaging in activities contrary to their diplomatic status” and ordered them to leave the host country Belgium. The EU has announced it took this decision at reports of civilian killings in Ukrainian towns that were under Russian control since Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. In the last few days, a number of European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain have expelled Russian diplomats after the massacre near Kyiv was discovered.
(Leyla Cheamil, Radio Romania International)
