Romania Expels Serb for ‘Spying for Russia’
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| A picture of Zivkovic released by Romania’s counter-intelligence. |
Romania on Tuesday expelled a pro-Russian Serbian nationalist and banned him from entering the NATO member state for 15 years for spying on NATO military bases in southeastern Romania and showing an interest in obtaining classified information on military installations.
The Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI, said Bratislav Zivkovic, 42, a self-proclaimed commander of Serbia’s Chetniks paramilitary forces, had fought in Crimea in 2014-2015 in support of Russian intervention there and had also been in the rebel-held parts of eastern Ukraine in Donetsk and Lugansk. He holds both Serbian and Russian nationality.
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| A picture of Zivkovic in Romania. Photo: SRI.ro |
SRI spokesman Ovidiu Marincea said investigators had identified Zivkovic “showing interest in obtaining classified documents on critical infrastructure and national and allied military objectives located in south-east Romania with the intention of affecting our strategic partnerships.
“I want to stress that this Serbian citizen did not succeed in gathering any documents or classified information,” Marincea said. “He poses a risk to Romania’s national security,” he added.
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| Zivkovic and his fellow combatants in Eastern Ukraine. Photo: SRI.ro |
Zivkovic came to Romania four times in 2017, from Bulgaria or Ukraine, and every time he ended up in the Black Sea port of Constanta. He was, however, under SRI surveillance, and was caught photographing military radars on the Black Sea coast and trying to send the GPS location for the facilities.
He was also interested in the Mihail Kogalniceanu military base, where NATO aircraft are stationed, the SRI said.
Zivkovic wrote on Facebook that “reports by some NATO media in Serbia” were “shouting news about another ‘Serbian-Russian spy’ who undermined national security, this time in Romania.
“It is true that Romania has banned my entry for the next 15 years because of the fear of their secret service that I could jeopardize their national security,” he said.
But Zivkovic insisted that there was no evidence that he had spied in Romania because, in that case, according to him, the state would have launched a court case against him.
“Documents I got from Romanian Immigration office clearly show that main motives for the entry ban for the next 15 years are my activities in Crimea and Donbass, as well as fear of potential spying activities in Romania,” he added.
Zivkovic also wrote that “another defence missile system was installed recently in Romania” and that it is “turned toward Russia”.
Serbia’s Chetniks gained notoriety in the 1990s when their units, named after World War II royalist resistance fighters, committed atrocities against non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
