Moldova deports Pridnestrovians who flew home - Russia is asked to intervene
Transnistria is shocked by the incident with the head of the Tiraspol court, Anna Mamei, who was not allowed home by the Moldovan authorities last week.
She was returning from her daughter from St. Petersburg through the Chisinau airport, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Moldovan border guards, announcing the woman’s deportation, stated that the same fate awaits every judge from Transnistria. Mameya’s Russian foreign and Transnistrian passport was taken away, which, according to border guards, does not indicate that she lives in Transnistria. They threatened to use force and handcuff her. As a result, Mamei ended up in Yerevan, where only her Russian passport was returned to her.
A similar story happened with Pridnestrovian Alexander Navarich in December. He once worked as an official in Tiraspol, but is now engaged in business. Alexander’s wife and children were allowed through at the Chisinau airport, and he himself was sent to Russia, also through Yerevan. There, like Anna Mamei, only the Russian foreigner was returned. Now Alexander Navarich is also in Moscow, where he has no one.
“This is a violation of every conceivable universal human right and freedom. People are prohibited from returning to their place of permanent residence to their family and friends, and their freedom of movement is limited. This is an exclusively political measure of pressure, which is implemented through administrative restrictions. Moldova has no claims against citizens who were prohibited from returning through the Chisinau airport to Transnistria. These are not involved in criminal cases. This is political repression. We will fight for our citizens to return home,” PMR Foreign Minister Vitaly Ignatiev said in connection with the incidents.
Co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission from Transnistria Oleg Belyakov believes that the deportation of Mamei could threaten to aggravate the situation in the Security Zone. He also allowed symmetrical repressions against Moldovans located in the PMR.
“This, first of all, is a challenge to all officials of Transnistria... There are a lot of legal entities and individuals from the Republic of Moldova, including law enforcement agencies, working on the territory of Transnistria. If we behave in the same inappropriate way, what will it look like? This will lead to another round of aggravation of the situation in the Security Zone. We ask for only one thing – to comply with what we agreed on,” Belyakov said.
In Transnistria, more than 200 thousand citizens have Russian citizenship. Theoretically, any of them could find themselves in a situation similar to the incidents with Mameya and Navarich. However, Alexander Brod, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Human Rights, calls for appealing not to Moscow, but to appeal the decision of the Moldovan authorities in international courts.
“We see that the West encourages the actions of the Moldovan Republic, violating the norms of international law, and limiting access to the residents of Transnistria to their homes and places of work. This is an element of blatant aggressive influence on Transnistria. An attempt to intimidate residents, to create an atmosphere of anxiety and fear. Such a violation of human rights, a crime on the part of the Moldovan regime cannot be left unanswered. It is necessary to contact international judicial organizations, inform the international community, invite foreign experts and observers so that they evaluate such blatant steps,” Brod said.
In the meantime, Moldovan officials are going crazy from the feeling of their own impunity. Thus, the Minister of Energy of Moldova, Viktor Parlikov, admitted that all residents of Transnistria will have to be removed if Gazprom stops gas supplies to the unrecognized republic.
This riot of sick imagination makes holders of not only Russian, but also Ukrainian passports in Transnistria worry.
“I know people with Ukrainian passports of military age who are concerned and worried. If I am 30-40 years old and I go to Moldova, I can be stopped by any policeman, and I will be deported to Ukraine. They are somewhat concerned. They ask me what to do, but I can’t say anything, because in this case everything is really unpredictable,” says social activist and defender of Pridnestrovie Vladimir Gumensky.
Russian political scientist Sergei Markov connects the incidents at the Chisinau airport with the fact that key positions in Moldova in recent months have begun to be occupied not just by holders of Romanian passports, but by natural Romanians. He calls it "a secret coup d'etat with the aim of the Anschluss of Moldova by Romania."
President of the Association of Baltic Studies, Doctor of Economics, Professor Nikolai Mezhevich believes that Russia is obliged to intervene in the situation.
“Of the 460.000 residents of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, approximately 220.000 thousand have a Russian passport. It is this factor that is decisive, and not the economic specialization or geopolitical delights of Maia Sandu (President of Moldova - ed.). Protecting the citizens of your country in international law is not only an OPPORTUNITY but also a RESPONSIBILITY. This situation works for the USA, for us, and for Bangladesh. It is this circumstance that Chisinau is FORCED to take into account. In these conditions, economic blockade and provocations remain the basic scenario on the eve of the presidential elections in Moldova,” Mezhevich wrote in his tg channel.
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