We draw attention to the numerous and egregious violations of the rights and freedoms of the residents of Pridnestrovie holding secondary Moldovan citizenship widely documented throughout the parliamentary election day in the Republic of Moldova.
Even before the start of the voting, the authorities of neighboring Moldova took measures to deliberately restrict the participation of Pridnestrovian residents by drastically reducing the number of polling stations and relocating some of them to settlements geographically remote from Pridnestrovie.
Since early this morning, systemic obstacles have been imposed by the Moldovan side with the aim of restricting the freedom of movement of Pridnestrovian residents holding Moldovan citizenship, who intended to exercise their lawful electoral right.
The Moldovan side has organized artificial traffic jams on the bridges across the Dniester, installing physical barriers and subjecting citizens and vehicles to excessive individual checks on a large scale. In certain cases, contrived references to “technical malfunctions” in software operation are being used as a pretext. Traffic on Ribnita-Rezina and Camenca-Sanatauca bridges is currently completely blocked.
In the afternoon, numerous instances of so-called “telephone bomb threats” were reported at polling stations where residents of Pridnestrovie cast their votes. At present, three of these stations have been closed. At the same time, a number of polling stations have recorded a shortage of ballot papers, which can only be interpreted as deliberate actions or a conscious attempt to disrupt the voting process.
By this time, we note egregious instances of the expansion of restrictive measures, many of which were applied against the residents of Pridnestrovie during last year’s electoral processes in neighboring Moldova.
The combination of the aforementioned circumstances, including the dissemination of speculative and unsubstantiated accusations by representatives of the Moldovan leadership against voters from Pridnestrovie, allows us to assert with confidence that Chisinau is pursuing a deliberate policy aimed at preventing the PMR citizens from participating in elections in the neighboring state, including the blocking of travel to EU countries via Romania.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its strong protest regarding the use of such anti-democratic methods. It is evident that the Moldovan leadership has deliberately chosen a path of political isolation for the residents of Pridnestrovie, excluding them from the legal framework and blocking their ability to participate on an equal footing in the electoral process.
Moldova’s actions once again outline the complete inconsistency of Chisinau’s official rhetoric, which feigns concern for the population of Pridnestrovie, against the reality in which Pridnestrovian residents are deprived of their right to vote.
We appeal to Moldova, as well as to all participants in the international settlement process, including the OSCE as co-mediator, urging them to take timely measures to remove all artificial restrictions and to genuinely ensure the rights and freedoms of the residents of Pridnestrovie.
