The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR reports that a member of the Pridnestrovian Interior Ministry staff M.G. Kuzmichev was arrested by competent bodies of the Hellenic Republic by the instruction of the Republic of Moldova at the airport in Athens on Monday, July 20, 2015.
It should be emphasized with concern that during the summer of 2015 this incident is the third case of unreasonable restrictions on the right to freedom of movement of officials of Pridnestrovie (including those who do not have positions in the civil service) in view of their politically motivated prosecution in the Republic of Moldova. And the officials of Pridnestrovie including law enforcement officers, as well as the executive and judicial authorities are persecuted for fulfilling their direct duties in Pridnestrovie.
According to the information available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR, the competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova have sent information about a number of criminally prosecuted citizens of Pridnestrovie into international structures, put them to the international wanted list, roughly distorting the facts and falsifying the case materials. In this context, until the clarification of the situation the Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie strongly recommends that Pridnestrovian officials and businessmen being prosecuted in Moldova on political grounds refrain from leaving Pridnestrovie.
We remind that thereby one of the principles of peaceful settlement - the implementation by the parties to the conflict of administrative and economic activity on the own territory, has been repeatedly flagrantly violated by representatives of the Republic of Moldova.
Regarding the incident, the Pridnestrovian side believes that the criminal case initiated in the Republic of Moldova against M.G. Kuzmichev is purely provocative and fabricated. The PMR's MFA considers the incident as an overt act of pressure and aggressive actions against the residents of Pridnestrovie and an attempt to intentionally escalate the situation in the negotiation process, to undermine the efforts made by the parties and international actors of the format “5+2” to continue the dialogue.
It should be reminded that the issue of termination of politically motivated criminal cases against officials of the parties is one of the most important aspects of the dialogue between Pridnestrovie and Moldova at the present stage. The deteriorating situation in this area by reason of unilateral provocative actions of the Moldovan side between 2014 and 2015 already has the effect of a long pause in conducting the meetings of the “Permanent Conference ...” in the “5+2” format, results in substantial degradation of the atmosphere of trust in the dialogue and destabilization of negotiation structure.
The representative on political issues from the Republic of Moldova, in his turn, in the framework of official correspondence, as well as during the meetings in the format “1+1” and special consultations of the “5+2” participants in Vienna on 21 April, 2015 informed on the ongoing work on the analysis of the possibilities of terminating a large part of the opened criminal cases. There repeatedly were assurances that the Republic of Moldova did not undertake any prosecutorial activities or other actions related to restriction of freedom of Pridnestrovian officials, who are involved in criminal cases in the Republic of Moldova.
It should also be recalled that in September 17, 2013 the representatives on political issues in Kishinev signed a protocol provided for elaboration within a month of the proposals to close criminal cases. However, the Moldovan side got out of the work subsequently mentioning the existing internal political disagreements.
The incidents with the detention of officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the PMR by the instruction of competent authorities of the Republic of Moldova may be indicative of the policy adopted by Moldova’s leadership towards the deterioration of relations between Kishinev and Tiraspol.
In order to resolve the conflict situation the Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie informed the representatives of all “5+2” members about it on July 20 and also addressed to the Moldovan side. The Foreign Ministry of the PMR separately asked the Head of the OSCE Mission in Moldova and the Head of the EU Delegation in Moldova for assistance.
At the initiative of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Nina Shtanski a series of telephone conversations with Representative on Political Issues of the Republic of Moldova Victor Osipov was held during the week. In the course of the consultations conducted it was pronounced general concern about possible negative consequences of the situation. Daily consultations with the Moldovan side and international partners were focused on joint search for possible mechanisms to prevent the rise of tension in connection with the incident and its early resolution. We note with disappointment that there is, seemingly, a purpose behind Moldovan partners’ constructive rhetoric, to play for time and to create commotion in the media. As a result, by “chance” which became habitual, an instrument more than once approved by the Moldovan side was used – the “leak” of the diplomatic correspondence to the press - contrary to existing practice and agreements.
The PMR's MFA emphasizes that in the case of prolongation of the incident the entire responsibility for the further complication of the relationship and the aggravation of the situation will lie on the Moldovan side.
The Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie calls on the Moldovan side to take urgent measures aimed at resolving such incidents in order to impede the final degradation of the atmosphere of trust between the parties and the widening of the negative tendencies and manifestations which are characteristic of the conflict interaction. Along with it, the Foreign Ministry of Pridnestrovie asked the representatives of “5+2” members to provide assistance in order to avoid the painful deterioration of relations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, which may take a long time to resume.
