Tiraspol, February 15. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The forecast for relations with Moldova for 2024 is not yet the most comforting. Customs duties introduced against Pridnestrovian business since the beginning of the year are just one form of political and economic pressure on the PMR. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Vitaly Ignatiev, stated this at today’s meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie. According to him, the challenges associated with the actions of Moldova require the consolidation of the Pridnestrovian state and society.
The Minister emphasized that in 2023, Chisinau continued its course towards demolishing the legal framework that had developed over 30 years of negotiations. The authorities of the Republic of Moldova are constantly creating new difficulties for both enterprises and citizens of the PMR. At the same time, the 5+2 format has been idle for the fifth year, while the number of meetings of political representatives and meetings of expert groups of the PMR and RM reached a historical minimum in 2023 since 2011.
“We only had 2 meetings of political representatives and 9 meetings of expert groups. In comparison: in 2022, 9 meetings of political representatives and 17 meetings of expert groups took place,” Vitaly Ignatiev noted.
He noted that the “law on separatism” adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova in February 2023 dealt a big blow to the bilateral dialogue. “This created threats for every citizen of ours, including officials, when visiting neighboring Moldova,” the Minister emphasized, adding that the “law on separatism” was criticized by all international participants in the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement, including the EU and OSCE structures.
According to Vitaly Ignatiev, the problem related to the PMR residents` freedom of movement has also seriously worsened last year.
“Chisinau increased pressure on Pridnestrovians when passing border control in the Republic of Moldova: many hours of detentions, interrogations, in-depth checks, inspection of personal belongings and, ultimately, deportation of citizens of the Pridnestrovian Republic. Fortunately, several of our compatriots have already managed to return home to Pridnestrovie,” the Minister said.
In general, he said, “Moldovan leaders are afraid and avoid direct and honest political dialogue at all costs.”
“The other day, the political representative of Moldova /Oleg Serebryan/ said that he was personally very glad that Moldova’s accession to the European Union would take place without Pridnestrovie. This political position not only of Chisinau, but also of Brussels is further evidence of the understanding of the fact that Moldova has no grounds to lay claim to Pridnestrovie, that both states and both peoples are completely different,” Vitaly Ignatiev emphasized.
