Moldova bars Russian deputy PM

Moldova on Wednesday declared Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata in the wake of a diplomatic spat that saw his plane barred from flying over Romania. The move looks set to ratchet up tensions between Russia and Moldova's pro-Western government as a political tug-of-war rages inside the tiny ex-Soviet nation over its future direction.
Rogozin was supposed to make a visit to Moldova's pro-Russian figurehead president on Friday but the passenger plane he was travelling on was blocked by EU member Romania from crossing its airspace. Bucharest said it had turned the commercial liner back because Rogozin is under an EU travel ban over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.