The authorities of Transnistria are asking Russia to allow those residents of the unrecognized republic who already have passports of Moldova or Ukraine to obtain Russian citizenship.
President of Pridnestrovie Vitaly Krasnoselsky announced this today at a press conference in Moscow, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“We must be fair to these people and give them the opportunity to obtain a Russian document without giving up a passport from another state. They have a right to this, including a moral one. There are such precedents in the CIS, we ask that they be extended to Pridnestrovie,” Krasnoselsky said.
According to him, this is “the most important and painful issue” for Transnistria, which is currently home to 220 thousand citizens of the Russian Federation, 100 thousand citizens of Ukraine and 200 thousand citizens of Moldova.
“They are all citizens of Transnistria and they are all compatriots of Russia. There is no person in Transnistria who would not want to receive a Russian passport. The obstacle is the presence of a Moldovan or Ukrainian passport. It's not fair. You can't blame people for this.
With the collapse of the Union, we remained cut off from our historical Motherland - and the citizens of Transnistria, unable to obtain a Russian document, were forced to obtain any other one.
To solve basic issues: treatment, vacation, trip to relatives. Although people received a Moldovan or Ukrainian passport, they still consider themselves part of the common people of the Russian Federation,” Krasnoselsky concluded.