The plans of the Moldovan authorities to hold a referendum on joining the EU in the fall of 2024 without taking into account the opinions of the residents of Transnistria will mean that Chisinau has decided to abandon the unrecognized republic, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Izvestia.
“[Молдавия] refused numerous proposals from both the Pridnestrovians themselves and the Russian Federation to resume negotiations in the “5+2” format. Sandu stated that yes, we will hold a referendum on joining the European Union without any Transnistria. There is probably a desire to quickly unite with Romania and through this gain some additional opportunities. And maybe they are counting on a military solution to the Transnistrian problem. This would be reckless for the Moldovan leadership, and I think they should understand this, or they need to explain it very clearly,” Lavrov said.
Earlier, the Moldovan authorities expressed a desire to hold a referendum on joining the European Union along with the presidential elections, which are scheduled to take place in the republic in the fall of 2024. At the same time, relations between Chisinau and the unrecognized Transnistrian Moldavian Republic (PMR) have sharply deteriorated since January of this year: Moldova changed the rules for collecting customs duties, as a result of which Pridnestrovian entrepreneurs were forced to pay fees to two budgets at once – Chisinau and Tiraspol. In Transnistria, such a policy of the Moldovan leadership was called an attempt to economically strangle the republic. The PMR authorities appealed to the Russian Federal Assembly to provide diplomatic assistance in resolving relations with Moldova.
Read more in Sergei Lavrov’s exclusive interview with Izvestia:
“The West is suspiciously actively convincing us that Kyiv is not involved”
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