BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romanian prosecutors said on Thursday they had detained six people on charges of trying to overthrow the state with the help of Russia, marking a dramatic escalation of tensions between Bucharest and Moscow.
The suspects were detained on Wednesday, the same day that Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, declared the Russian embassy’s military attache and his deputy personae non grata for what it said were acts contravening diplomatic rules.
Moscow has said it would respond to the move.
“Starting in 2023, five of the defendants, together with a suspect, formed an organized criminal group with the aim of undermining the sovereignty and independence of the Romanian state by politically undermining the country’s defence capacity,” anti-organised crime prosecuting unit DIICOT said in a statement.
“Also, the members of the criminal group repeatedly contacted agents of a foreign power, located both in Romania and the Russian Federation,” it said in the statement, which did not name the suspects.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Prosecutors said the group had a military-type structure, with one member being a retired major general.
They said the group had taken steps to negotiate with external forces regarding the potential withdrawal of Romania, which shares a border with Ukraine, from the NATO military alliance.
The group aimed to install a new government and dissolve the current constitutional order, introducing a new flag, national anthem and changing the country’s name, the prosecutors said.
“At the same time, during January, two of the defendants travelled to Moscow, where they came into contact with people willing to support the organization’s efforts to take over state power in Romania.”
Political tensions have been running high in Romania since its top court voided the presidential election in December amid accusations of Russian interference, which Moscow denied.
A court at the time ruled that Russia had meddled in the electoral campaign to benefit far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who is pro-Russian and opposes supplying military aid to Ukraine.
The investigation announced on Thursday is unrelated to Georgescu, prosecution sources said.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Alan CharlishEditing by Gareth Jones)
