Today, on April 3, 2015, a group of employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR was returning from a business trip on a regular S7 flight from Moscow to Kishinev for subsequent departure to the capital of Pridnestrovie.
Upon arrival at the airport in Kishinev during the passport control six diplomatic employees of Pridnestrovie were detained without explanation by the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova. Identity documents (foreign passports) were seized from the diplomats and then also with no reason given and without cause they were ordered to remain in the arrivals area on a neutral territory for an indefinite period.
During the incident, three employees of the Foreign Ministry of the PMR were interrogated in the department of the Border Police by a lieutenant Sergei Chobanu. During the interrogation, the representative of the Moldovan Border Police openly tried to get information about the purposes of the business trip of the Pridnestrovian diplomats and the working contacts held during the visit to Moscow.
In total, the employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR were detained by the RM’s Border Police for more than one hour, after which the Foreign Ministry staff did get their documents back. They were released only after numerous phone calls of the leadership of the Foreign Ministry of the PMR to the leaders of the Republic of Moldova and international partners.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR regards the incident as a flagrant violation of the previously reached agreements of the negotiation process in the field of freedom of movement. The Foreign Ministry also does not overlook the fact that the provocative actions of the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova are in direct contradiction to the spirit of the agreements on the facilitation of border crossing procedures during the holidays, reached at the meeting of the leaders of Pridnestrovie and Moldova in Kishinev on March 14, 2015.
In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PMR stresses that the incident that blends into the measures of pressure applied by Moldovawill have, beyond all doubt, logically relevant negative consequences not only for the cooperation between the parties in the negotiation process, but also for the whole range of Moldova - Pridnestrovie relations in general.
