Moscow nominates spy-linked diplomat for OSCE Serbia post

A Russian diplomat, recalled from Brussels amid a spy purge by Belgian authorities, has been nominated to head the Belgrade mission of Europe's largest security body, according to a joint investigation by Radio Free Europe and several European media outlets.

Moscow has nominated Dmitry Iordanidi, a former deputy head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with extensive experience in the Balkans, to head the organization's mission in Serbia, according to internal OSCE documents obtained by REL, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

His candidacy came amid growing accusations from the United States and European governments in recent years of "malign" Russian activities in the region covered by the 57-nation regional security organization, headquartered in Vienna.

Iordanidi, 55, is one of 20 Russian diplomats who quietly left Brussels in 2023 over accusations by the Belgian State Security Service (VSSE) that they were spies operating undercover, according to a list compiled by Belgian intelligence and independently verified by three Western intelligence sources, according to a joint investigation by REL, the Brussels-based news website EUobserver, the Belgian newspaper De Morgen, the Belgian weekly magazine Humo and the French newspaper Le Monde.

A source from the intelligence institutions called this withdrawal of spies an "opportunity to empty our drawer" after Russia's complete invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

While the Belgian government does not publish lists of diplomats accredited in the country and the Russian diplomatic mission in Brussels does not publish the names of its personnel, REL independently verified the presence of some of the expelled Russian diplomats in Belgium in 2023.

The Russian diplomats, who have not been publicly identified so far, were linked on the list to Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) or its military intelligence directorate, known as the GRU.

Iordanidi, whom the Belgian intelligence list identifies as having ties to the SVR, is the only diplomat among the 20 expelled who was not declared persona non grata, according to an intelligence source. The source said Russia recalled Iordanidi after Belgium communicated that he would be declared persona non grata if Moscow did not recall him.

Now, Moscow is trying to reinstate Iordanidi to the OSCE, the Vienna-based multilateral organization that, until Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, had played a central role in monitoring Russian aggression in Ukraine and trying to mediate between Moscow and Kiev.

Iordanidi was listed as one of eight candidates for the head of the OSCE mission to Serbia after the application deadline of December 1, 2024.