Statement by the Press Service of the Pridnestrovian Foreign Ministry on the incident with the crew of the Russian TV channel “Zvezda” at the airport in Kishinev on April 9, 2015

04/10/15

Today at the airport in Kishinev the border police of the Republic of Moldova denied entry to the crew of the Zvezda (Star) television channel moved to Pridnestrovie for shooting a reportage on the socio-economic situation in the country and an interview with the President of the PMR E.Shevchuk. Regulations of the Border Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova were issued to the staff of the TV channel. According to the regulations the reason for the refusal of entry means the absence of documents confirming the purpose of the visit to Moldova.

Leaves no doubt that the true reason for the ban on the entry of the crew of the Zvezda TV channel was precisely the purpose of the visit of journalists - shooting a plot on Pridnestrovie and the impact of blockade measures of Moldova and Ukraine on the situation in the republic against the Pridnestrovian economy. We also note that the journalists had all the necessary documents to work in Pridnestrovie.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR considers today's incident as another step aimed at strengthening the information blockade against Pridnestrovie. We remind that earlier, in March the team of the VGTRK (All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company) headed by Alexander Balitsky was refused entry into the country at the airport in Kishinev which shortly before it had prepared the coverage from Pridnestrovie for the TV channel “Rossiya1”.

The Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie once again calls on the Moldovan side to abandon the practice of a “witch hunt”, restrictions in all spheres of bilateral relations. We believe that impeding the work of foreign media in Pridnestrovie far from helping to establish a positive atmosphere in the relationship of the parties, but also is untenable as an attempt to prevent the spread of objective information about the life of the republic abroad.