Advisor Sandu demanded that the Russian Ambassador be declared persona non grata

The Chairman of the Commission on Pardons in the Administration of the President of Moldova, Ion Guzun, demanded that the Russian Ambassador to Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov be declared persona non grata for attending the inauguration of the President of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky.

Guzun wrote about this on his Facebook, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“Persona non grata is Oleg Vasnetsov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Moldova. A formal decision is needed,” Guzun wrote.

He also burst out with insults at the head of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, Metropolitan Vladimir, for sending Krasnoselsky congratulations on his election.

“One is a separatist, the other sings and drives a car with government license plates,” Guzun wrote.

The administration of the President of Moldova hastened to disown the adviser’s words. Maia Sandu's press secretary, Sorina Stefarta, stated that Guzun's idea is his personal opinion.

“Maia Sandu is out of business again. But the adviser will not be punished or expelled from service. This means that Sandu actually shares these views. He just prefers not to talk about it for now. A little later, be patient,” member of the Moldovan Parliament Bogdan Tsydrea commented on the situation in his Telegram channel.

His words are confirmed by the commentary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova regarding Voloshin’s participation in the inauguration (Moldovan diplomats put this word in quotation marks) of the President of Transnistria.

“We would like to remind you that the so-called “presidential elections” in the Transnistrian region are illegitimate and contradict the constitutional foundations of Moldova. In this regard, the participation of the head of the diplomatic mission of the Russian Federation in such actions is considered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration as an unfriendly action.

The presence of foreign diplomats in activities that can be used for propaganda purposes will never make a positive contribution to the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict or to the development of bilateral relations based on mutual respect. This position will be brought to the attention of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in the near future,” the statement said.

Moldovan observers are outraged by the hypocrisy and double standards of the Foreign Ministry. It is widely known that the US Ambassador, the EU representative and other Western diplomats met with Krasnoselsky on several occasions. However, there were no statements from the Moldovan authorities on this matter.

“Guys, are you completely out of your depth? Even Western ambassadors regularly travel to Tiraspol. Even Derek Hogan, the great and holy one, met Krasnoselsky in Tiraspol. And I don’t remember that you suggested declaring Hogan or Mikhalko persona non grata. Your American and European friends are laughing at you and twisting their fingers at your temple,” wrote political scientist Ernest Vardanyan.

Russian Senator Alexei Pushkov threatened Moldova with problems with gas supplies.

“Besides the clearly hostile nature of this stunt, perhaps agreed upon by higher management, its authors likely gave little thought to the consequences of such a move. After all, the next time there is a delay in payment for Russian gas supplies from Chisinau, everything may turn out differently than it did in November, when Moscow was very lenient about it. China has just indicated to Lithuania retaliatory – and very tough – steps for Vilnius’ political attack against it. At the instigation of the United States, retaliatory economic measures are becoming not the exception, but the norm in world politics. They stop being embarrassed. Living with wolves, as the saying goes, leads to inevitable conclusions,” Pushkov wrote.

Last week, the Moldovan authorities deported 10 Russian political scientists and public figures from Chisinau airport who were heading to the elections in Tiraspol. The State Duma of the Russian Federation is preparing an official appeal on this matter.