Moldova refused to provide security guarantees to the representatives of Transnistria in connection with the recently adopted law on criminal liability for separatism by Chisinau. On February 21, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PMR Vitaly Ignatiev told Izvestia about this.
“I informed my Moldovan counterpart that any Pridnestrovian could be threatened by this law, including myself and representatives of my negotiating team. So I demanded a security guarantee. But there is still no clarity on how we will technically conduct a dialogue, since my counterpart refused to give guarantees and clearly, in detail, explain how he sees the implementation of this bill,” the diplomat said.
On February 18, a law came into force in Moldova that toughened the punishment for calls for separatism and the distribution of materials inciting such actions, for which criminal liability is provided for up to 10 years in prison. The authorities of Transnistria considered that all residents of the republic fall under this law.
“Thus, Chisinau is trying to push us out of the negotiation process or push us to some kind of retaliatory action. I cannot rule it out,” Ignatiev added.
At the same time, he stressed that Tiraspol is aimed at dialogue and is open to holding negotiations in any formats and modes, “but these modes must fully ensure the security of each participant.”
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
“Moldova has been actively militarizing since last year”
