Air Moldova does not give up. How will the story of the ban on flights to Russia end?
The Moldovan airline Air Moldova, which the authorities have banned from operating flights to Moscow, will negotiate with the civil aviation authority to clarify the situation around the banning directive and, if necessary, go to court.
This is reported on the company's website. Air Moldova has already published a letter in which it demands appropriate clarification from the national regulator.
The document, in particular, states that the state authorities limit the commercial activities of carrier companies, that the ban on flights to the Russian Federation “is based on regulations, decisions and opinions that are not approved in the Republic of Moldova” (the authorities referred to the directives of EASA - the European Agency on flight safety).
The airline emphasizes that the state, by banning flights, did not take into account its own economic interests, as well as the financial interests, comfort and safety of its citizens, who today have two options for traveling to the Russian Federation: by bus (3 days on the road, 200 euros per person per one side) or by air with transfers (800 – 1400 euros).
Air Moldova also reports that before announcing the launch of flights to the Russian Federation, it studied all packages of sanctions imposed on Russia, including by specialized civil aviation organizations.
“None of these sanctions, even those imposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization and EASA, prohibits air carriers registered in other states from flying to and from Russia. All sanctions are directed against aeronautics agents registered in the Russian Federation,” the Moldovan company found out.
While the trial is in progress, Moldova is actively commenting on the scandalous story of the cancellation of highly sought-after flights to the Russian Federation. Observers do not really believe that the situation with flights to Moscow will be resolved in favor of the airline and the citizens of the country. The network notes that Moldova has long lost its sovereignty - it is breaking all ties with Russia, including human ones, focusing on the “European choice.”
“Russian citizens do not want to go to Moldova, but our citizens need to go to Russia. About half a million of our fellow citizens work in the Russian Federation, and our government does not take their interests into account first,” writes political scientist Alexander Korinenko in the Telegram channel.
Journalist and political observer Lilia Burakovski has questions not for the authorities, but for the Air Moldova company, whose actions she considers provocative, and whose history of privatization is not entirely transparent.
“I see that those who like to take over state-owned enterprises wanted to play “big politics.” The flying provocation worked. They strengthened the positions of the “negotiators” in Moscow,” Burakovski wrote on Facebook, referring to the visit to Russia of a delegation of Moldovan deputies from the opposition parties “Shor” and PCRM and their meeting in the State Duma on issues of young-Russian relations.
But public figure, journalist Dmitry Chubashenco finds it strange that Air Moldova was declared “controlled by Shor.”
“This is a purely state-owned enterprise managed by the Government Public Property Agency. The fact that such a state-owned enterprise makes such important announcements without coordinating them with the founder once again confirms what kind of chaos reigns in this government,” he explained in his blog.
Regarding the situation as a whole, Ciubashenco said that Moldova acts strictly within the framework of European recommendations.
“Russian airlines are under EU sanctions. EU skies are closed to Russian airlines, and vice versa. No EU airline can fly to or through Russia, and vice versa. Moldova is a candidate country for EU membership. Such a country cannot act contrary to the rules established throughout the EU.
Therefore, it is completely natural that first, prominent representatives of the ruling PAS party in Moldova declared Air Moldova’s announcement of flights to Moscow to be fake, and then the aviation authorities of Moldova directly banned any Moldovan airline from flying to Russia, referring specifically to EU documents...
The Government of Moldova cannot take any actions that run counter to the general line of the EU. As in the famous syllogism: “All goats eat cabbage. Vasya eats cabbage. This means Vasya is a goat.” Yes, this syllogism is called false, but in the case of Moldova, which is following the EU’s footsteps, this is the pure truth,” the journalist wrote.
The Moldovan public caustically comments on the role of Ukraine in Chisinau’s decision to ban direct flights to Russia. Let us recall that on Sunday Kyiv announced that it welcomes the ban and that Moldova is thus “actually synchronizing its position with the approach of the EU countries and other states” that have stopped flights to Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
“Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Yevgeny Perebiinis expressed approval of the decision of the Moldovan authorities to ban air traffic between Moldova and Russia. Only he didn’t pat him on the head. Good dog - Maya, good. Sit, lie, voice. Follow the commands further.
And for the sake of this praise of some prodigal Perebiinis, the Moldovan government is ready to abandon hundreds of thousands of its citizens in Russia,” political observer, blogger, one of the founders of the Nashi party, Mikhail Akhremtsev, wrote about the situation in his Telegram channel.
He suggested that if this goes on, the Moldovan authorities will soon announce a ban for its citizens to visit Russia and a ban for Russians to enter Moldova.
“I’ll give you a hint: they expect that Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland will now close the land route to the Russian Federation and “the need will no longer be necessary.” If not, then we expect further descent into insanity from representatives of the Moldovan “yellow zoo”. Is there a limit to this? No,” writes Akhremtsev.
Meanwhile, the ruling party of Moldova, which promised all kinds of benefits to the people, will find it increasingly difficult to explain how much more stability and prosperity will have to be abandoned in favor of “freedom and dignity.”
“As they say, everything is for the people, at any time of the year! So think about who our government serves? The voters to whom they promised "good times"? Or foreign “curators”, for the sake of whom hundreds of thousands of compatriots are forced to travel home for three days at a huge cost to see their relatives?
I’m not even talking about the millions of fellow citizens who will freeze in winter waiting for willow bark, a mini-reactor not built in Romania, and a firewood distribution site on the Internet!” – Moldovan journalist Valery Demidetsky wrote on Facebook.
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