On December 9-10 of this year, at the Chisinau airport, Moldovan law enforcement agencies banned the entry of many representatives of the Russian Federation who were heading to Pridnestrovie for various purposes, including participation in monitoring the electoral process at the presidential elections of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Representatives of the Public Chamber of Russia were deported: Vladimir Zhuravlev, well-known Russian politician, historian and political scientist Natalia Narochnitskaya, Director of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Alexander Brod and other guests.
The Moldovan authorities, who call themselves “democratic”, have allowed themselves to grossly violate the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens in transit to Pridnestrovie, using the same practice of cowardly deportations, which was massively used under the former Moldovan regime. There aren’t any doubts that the neighboring country is led by worthy successors of past disgraced politicians. They diligently carry on the previous hostile strategy against Russia by means of humiliations, interrogations and deportations of Russian citizens: public figures, scientists, writers, human rights defenders, experts and ordinary people heading to relatives and friends in Pridnestrovie.
We regard the incident as Moldova’s demonstrative refusal to interact with Pridnestrovie in a civilized manner favoring methods of pressure, sanctions and blockades, deliberately leading to an escalation of the conflict and delaying the prospects for its final settlement. This is a clear evidence of the Moldovan authorities’ weakness in the negotiation process with Pridnestrovie. Chisinau at the moment refuses to take responsibility for officially assumed international obligations, unable to propose constructive ideas, destroying dialogue mechanisms and literally running away from the negotiating table under the guise of “personnel” difficulties.
The Moldovan leadership is in constant fear of the need to negotiate with Pridnestrovie and in every way delays the moment when it will inevitably have to formulate a clear position regarding the recognition of the free choice of the Pridnestrovians’, who have the same inalienable rights as the peoples of other states, including neighboring Moldova.
We appeal to the international participants of the 5+2 format to assess the inhumane destructive attempts of the Moldovan authorities to interfere with the electoral processes in Pridnestrovie. At the same time, by the very fact of political interference, Moldova additionally legitimizes the presidential elections in Pridnestrovie, since it is impossible to counteract what “does not exist” and what is “not recognized” by Moldova’s Government.
We demand Chisinau stop provocations against the citizens of Russia and Pridnestrovie as a whole, not to interfere with the foreign observers’ activity and to respect the sovereign right of the people of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic to express their opinion within the framework of a democratic expression of will.
