Romanian spy Gabriel Grecu, who worked in Moscow under diplomatic cover, exposed

On August 17, 2010 the FSB announced that Gabriel Grecu, the first secretary of the political department of the Romanian Embassy, was exposed as spy after a Russian citizen told the Federal Security Service that he had tried to get him to commit high treason.

“In addition to open political information, Grecu forced the Russian citizen to pass documents containing military secrets to him. After that, citizen ‘M’, understanding that the Romanian intelligence officer was inducing him to commit high treason, voluntarily reported this to the FSB and expressed his willingness to help security agencies prevent the diplomat’s unlawful activities,” it said.

The FSB said it had analyzed documents in which Romanian intelligence services were interested and concluded that their passage to a foreign special service could have significantly damaged Russia’s security interests. “Therefore, a decision to put an end to Grecu’s spying activities was made. Connections of Romanian spies among Russian citizens are being analyzed now,” the FSB said.

Russian counterintelligence took notice of Dinu Pistolea, a high-ranking official from the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, back in 2008, when he tried to recruit ‘M’, a Russian citizen, who possessed relevant information on the situation in Moldova and Transdniestria due to his professional activities, the FSB said. “The diplomat proposed that the Russian pass analytical materials on the situation in Moldova and Transdniestria to Romania and report information characterizing and compromising top-ranking officials and leading policymakers from the unrecognized republic to Romania for payment,” it said.

“Special secrecy measures were observed in arranging personal meetings between the Romanian intelligence officer and the Russian citizen. Information on dates and time of the meetings was passed through email using conventionalities,” the FSB said.

Pistolea’s mission to Russia ended in December 2008. Grecu, who earlier served at the Romanian Embassy in Yerevan, continued contacts with “M” on behalf of Romanian intelligence services, it said.

On August 18, 2010 Romania expelled the first secretary of the Russian Embassy as tit-for-tat action. Anatoly Akopov was declared persona non grata and ordered out of Romania to the dismay of Russian officials.

"Unlike the first secretary of the Romanian Embassy in Moscow, who was caught red-handed in possession of materials and spying equipment that completely exposed his illegal activities, the Russian diplomat was not involved in any activities that could provide grounds for such decisions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

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