Tag Archives: Moldova

@StateDept Issues Guidance For Ukraine Land Border Crossings

March 3, 2022 By in Americans Abroad, Consular Work, EUR|Europe, Hotspots, Refugees, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

 

On March 1, the State Department issued new guidance on land border crossings for U.S. citizens departing Ukraine.

U.S. citizens wishing to depart Ukraine by land have several options, listed below. We understand that most border crossings into Poland and all main crossing points into Moldova are severely backed up and some are experiencing extremely long wait times (well over 30 hours in some cases). We recommend that, if possible, U.S. citizens consider redirecting to border crossings with Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, which are currently experiencing lower wait times to cross.

Note that conditions at each border can change very quickly and wait times can increase at any time without warning. Be prepared to wait for many hours to cross:

    • Have extra batteries and power banks for your mobile phones.
    • Bring enough food and water for at least two days.
    • Stock up on diapers and baby food, if applicable.
    • Bring blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes.
    • Ensure enough pet food if you are with your pet.
    • Bring hard copies of important documents (birth certificates, passports [even if expired], any other identification) and don’t rely on cell phones and computer batteries.
    • Book accommodations prior to arrival, as many hotels near the borders are already booked.

Local authorities in Romania, Poland, and Moldova have reception centers immediately beyond most border crossings, where you can find food, temporary lodging, clothes, and transportation to the next bigger town.

Specific info on entering neighboring countries from Ukraine

Read more here.

US EMBASSY POLAND

US EMBASSY ROMANIA

US EMBASSY HUNGARY

US EMBASSY SLOVAKIA

###

 

State/E Chief of Staff Kent Doyle Logsdon to be U.S. Ambassador to Moldova

July 27, 2021 By in EUR|Europe, Nominations, Officially In, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , ,

 

 

President Biden announced his intent to nominate Kent Doyle Logsdon to be the next Ambassador to Moldova. The WH released the following brief bio:

Kent Doyle Logsdon, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Moldova

Kent Doyle Logsdon, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, is Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment.  Previously, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Energy Resources, and was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Germany, serving as Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. from January 2017 to May 2018.  Prior to that, Logsdon was the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, and Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department.  Previous positions include Director of the Operations Center, Director of the Office of Russian Affairs, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Tbilisi, Georgia.  Logsdon also served in Kyiv, Ukraine; Bangkok, Thailand; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Stuttgart, Germany.   He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Notre Dame.  The recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award, Logsdon speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Thai and German.

If confirmed, Mr. Logsdon would succeed career diplomat Dereck J. Hogan who served as chief of mission at the US Embassy in Chisinau from November 2, 2018–till this month. Moldova is one of some 30 countries, mostly in Africa, where all appointees for ambassadors since 1960 have been career diplomats.

###

Confirmations 11/20: Pettit, Spratlen, Krol, Moreno, Lu, Hartley, Controversial Nominees Up Next Month

November 20, 2014 By in Ambassadors, Confirmations, Congress, Controversies, Foreign Service, John F. Kerry, Nominations, Obama, Realities of the FS, Secretary of State, Staffing the FS, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

— Domani Spero
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’ ]

 

The U.S. Senate confirmed the following nominations by voice vote on November 20:

  • James D. Pettit, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Moldova
  • Pamela Leora Spratlen, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Uzbekistan
  • George Albert Krol, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Kazakhstan
  • Luis G. Moreno, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Jamaica
  • Donald Lu, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Albania
  • Brent Robert Hartley, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia

On November 18, the State Department spox, Jeff Rathke said that “The full Senate can consider each of these nominees quickly. Certainly, our career nominees could be confirmed en bloc, they’re well-qualified, and they’re experienced.”

We desperately need all of America’s team on the field of diplomacy, and these are all spectacularly qualified career nominees. This is exactly how our remaining nominations should be considered and confirmed. There are 19 career Foreign Service officers awaiting confirmation on the Senate floor. They were all carefully considered in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and approved. The full Senate can consider each of these nominees quickly. Certainly, our career nominees could be confirmed en bloc, they’re well-qualified, and they’re experienced.A total of 58 State Department nominees, including 35 career diplomats, are still waiting.
[…]
Nominees on the floor have waited for more than eight and a half months on average, 258 days. It’s critical, in the Department’s view, that we get these nominees confirmed before the Senate adjourns for the year to prevent further delay in meeting our foreign policy objectives, and while we appreciate the progress just made, we know that America is stronger if the backlog is cleared and our nominees are confirmed before Thanksgiving. The Secretary has made a personal plea to his former colleagues in the Senate, and we would ask again for their help.

On November 19, the spox tried again:

Yesterday, I began the briefing with a pitch for my fellow Foreign Service officers who have been waiting for Senate confirmation. Secretary Kerry called in from London to his chief of staff, David Wade, and he asked me to come out here again this afternoon and do the same. The Secretary has been in continued contact with his former colleagues on Capitol Hill about this. It’s very important to him. He needs to have his team and he also feels it’s important that these non-controversial nominees be confirmed before Thanksgiving as well. It’s the right thing to do for them, for their families, and for America’s interests.

On November 20, the spox tried once more to appeal that the nominees be confirmed “en bloc or by unanimous consent”to no avail:

We’ve asked the united – that the Senate confirm these nominations en bloc or by unanimous consent, as we’ve seen in some cases this week, particularly because there’s no objection to these highly qualified and dedicated nominees. We urge the Senate to confirm them quickly and put them to work for the country. We need it desperately.

 

It looks like that’s it for today.  Coming up next month, the nominations of the more controversial nominee to Argentina:

Plus the nominee for Hungary:

 

 * * *

Fictional Girl Almost Cause Massive School Brawl, Later Reported Kidnapped for $50K Ransom to US Embassy

September 12, 2013 By in Americans Abroad, Consular Work, Court Cases, Diplomatic Security, Social Media, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , ,

— By Domani Spero

 

In late August, 18-year old Andriy Mykhaylivskyy (on Twitter as @AndriyHaddad and in IMDB) was arrested and charged by federal complaint with making false statements to a United States official. He allegedly used the internet and social media to create a fictitious high school girl, used that fake identity to establish an online relationship with another person and then falsely reported the girl’s kidnapping to the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova.  The other individual allegedly used by Mykhaylivskyy reported the same kidnapping to the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Presumably, the two kidnapping reports sent not just two embassy duty officers but also Regional Security Officers and host country officials on a wild goose chase for a fictitious person allegedly created by Mykhaylivskyy on Facebook using photographs of an actual high school student taken from an unsecured Facebook page without her knowledge or permission.

NorthJersey.com reported in August that last year at a different high school, Mykhaylivskyy lured another student into a six-month online relationship with a girl named Chantel Caparelli which did not result well for the student. In April, more than two dozen boys and young men from Weehawken and Rutherford were also threatening to meet for a massive brawl over a girl.  A mother quoted in the report says, “Nobody knew at the time that this girl Kate wasn’t real, so they were all fighting over her.”  Read more in  Alleged ‘Catfish’ scheme spurred anger, threats of violence at Rutherford High School. And this:  Federal agents arrest Rutherford man, 18, in Bulgarian kidnap hoax.

According to NYDaily News, Mr. Mykhaylivskyy was ordered held in lieu of $5,000 bail after he was arraigned in federal court. A judge also ordered that the teen continue school, but can only be allowed to use the Internet for educational purposes.

 

Via USDOJ:  N.J. Man Arrested for Making False Report of Kidnapping of Online “Teenage Girl” to U.S. Embassy

NEWARK, N.J. – A Bergen County, N.J., man who allegedly used the internet and social media to create a fictitious high school girl, used that fake identity to establish an online relationship with another person and then falsely reported the girl’s kidnapping to a U.S. Embassy was arrested today by federal officials, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Andriy Mykhaylivskyy, a/k/a/ “Andriy Haddad,” 18, of Rutherford, N.J., was arrested this morning and charged by complaint with making false statements to a United States official. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Mannion in Newark federal court.

According to the complaint:

In late August 2012, Mykhaylivskyy, allegedly posing as Kate Brianna Fulton, began an online relationship with a high school classmate identified in court papers as “Individual One.” Law enforcement investigation determined Kate Fulton was a fictitious person created by Mykhaylivskyy on Facebook using photographs of an actual high school student taken from an unsecured Facebook page without her knowledge or permission.

On July 2, 2013, Mykhaylivskyy, using an alias, called the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova, and reported that his girlfriend, “Kate Fulton,” a United States citizen, had been kidnapped in Bulgaria on June 28, 2013. The online relationship continued until Kate’s alleged kidnapping, with Mykhaylivskyy maintaining the relationship online and via text messaging.

Mykhaylivskyy independently befriended Individual One, claimed to know Kate Fulton, and confirmed details regarding Kate Fulton.

On July 8, 2013, the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, received a telephone call from Individual One seeking assistance regarding the kidnapping of Kate Brianna Fulton, whom Individual One reported was kidnapped while she was vacationing in Burgas, Bulgaria. Individual One provided the Embassy with tweets that Individual One received on June 29, 2013, a day after the purported kidnapping, from Kate Brianna Fulton’s Twitter account. One tweet was of a number that Individual One believed to be Kate’s local Bulgarian cell phone and the other read, “Someone help me.”

After receiving the second report of the kidnapping, federal agents from the U.S. Embassy Sofia, Bulgaria, Regional Security Office and the headquarters of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Northern Virginia engaged in an extensive investigation to locate Kate Brianna Fulton and also received assistance from Bulgarian law enforcement. Bulgarian police combed hotels, hostels and other lodgings in Burgas seeking information on the missing girl and the Bulgarian border police searched incoming passenger records.

This law enforcement investigation revealed that Kate Brianna Fulton was a fictitious person created by Mykhaylivskyy, and that the high school student whose pictures were used without her permission was safe and in the United States.

The count of making false statements with which Mykhaylivskyy is charged is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security in Embassy Sofia, the DSS Office of Protective Intelligence Investigations, the DSS New York Field Office and the New York and Newark Joint Terrorism Task Forces, for the investigation leading to today’s arrest.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara F. Merin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Mykhaylivskyy Complaint

Coming soon to a teevee-movie near you.

👀

Related articles