A flight connecting Armenia with Moldova carrying pro-Russian passengers was denied permission to land in Chisinau and diverted to Romania, a new incident in a country marked by rising tensions. “As required by law,” the operator “did not request authorization three days before changing its flight schedule,” the Moldovan Civil Aviation Authority said on Facebook.

Bucharest airport confirmed to AFP that the flight with 174 passengers had landed this morning after being the subject of a false bomb threat, requiring a security check for an early re-departure to Yerevan. “Chisinau airport refused to land a flight from Moscow via Yerevan, carrying Moldovan opposition congress participants and the flight was diverted to Bucharest,” wrote Marina Dabaril, a pro-Russian MP in Telegram.

As the country approaches its October 20 presidential election, the political atmosphere has long been tense in Moscow’s orbit, which has turned westward under the leadership of its current president, Maia Sandhu.