Despite the shouts from Chisinau. Russia opens polling stations in Transnistria for presidential elections

Today it became known that Russian presidential elections will still be held in Transnistria. By decision of the Russian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, on March 17, six polling stations will operate on the territory of the unrecognized republic - three in Tiraspol and one each in the cities of Bendery, Grigoriopol and Rybnitsa.

Transnistria greeted the news with both enthusiasm and excitement: the situation in the region is tense, relations between Chisinau and Moscow are worse than ever, Tiraspol is subject to unprecedented pressure from Moldova.

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At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, having studied Russia’s request to open polling stations for the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, called on Moscow not to hold elections on the territory of Transnistria. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Mihai Popsoi, said that the opening of polling stations “is unacceptable without the consent of the constitutional authorities of the country,” and that the leadership of the Republic of Moldova “will have to take measures” if polling stations do open in Transnistria. We agreed to open a site only on the territory of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau.

Just a few days ago, residents of the republic knew nothing about the formation of sites on the territory of Transnistria. Many were sure that there would be no Russian elections here in 2024 - and had already accepted this fact as a given: they say, if due to opposition from Moldova the voting cannot be organized, and if in the current situation Russia decided so, then so be it .

_{However, on March 6, Tiraspol was visited by the Russian Ambassador to Moldova Oleg Vasnetsov. Judging by official information, at the meeting of the diplomat with the President of the PMR Vadim Krasnoselsky, current issues were discussed - the prospects for resuscitating the “5+2” negotiation format, and the blockade measures of Moldova, and the results of the VII Congress of Deputies of Transnistria at all levels. There was not a word about the organization of elections in the press services.}

Observers suspected that negotiations on holding the vote took place in secrecy. Intrigue arose.

And the next day, March 7, Moscow made it clear that the Russian presidential elections in Transnistria would still take place. The special representative of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry on cooperation in the field of ensuring the right to freedom of religion, Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Gennady Askaldovich informed that Russia will try to respect the rights of Pridnestrovian voters.

“We, of course, cannot ignore two hundred thousand Russian citizens living in Pridnestrovie, for whom we will try to ensure their constitutional voting rights,” the diplomat said.

And today the Pridnestrovians were informed that the voting would take place.

“Six plots are a drop in the ocean, but in the current conditions we must be grateful for that,” say local residents.

It is worth noting that people in the republic were waiting for these elections - just as they are waiting for any Russian elections here. Over the past months, public organizations and government bodies have received calls from Pridnestrovians who were interested in how and where they can vote in the presidential elections in the Russian Federation. Pensioners and people with limited mobility asked about portable trash cans.

The Russian elections in Transnistria are an extremely important event. This is always more than an election; every time it is practically a referendum on the attitude towards Russia and on one’s own future. Russian elections always turn into a holiday, especially for older people. For them, this is a real connection with the big Motherland.

Let us remember how the Russian presidential elections took place in the PMR on March 18, 2018. The organization of voting on the territory of Transnistria was carried out by the Russian Embassy in Moldova with the active assistance of the Central Election Commission of the PMR. 24 voting stations were created - two more than in 2016, when Pridnestrovians elected deputies to the State Duma of the Russian Federation. Then, during the Duma elections, a large influx of voters was observed at a number of polling stations, there were queues, so in large cities - Tiraspol and Bendery - during the presidential campaign they decided to add one more polling station.

_{Transnistria was among the leaders in the number of foreign polling stations. Residents of the republic in the 2018 Russian presidential elections preferred Vladimir Putin (96,4% of the votes), demonstrating an unprecedented turnout. 73 voters turned out to vote at the ballot box.}

And this is data on the participation of Pridnestrovians in the elections to the State Duma of the VIII convocation in September 2021. The turnout then exceeded 57 thousand people. There were 27 polling stations attached to seven electoral districts in the Saratov, Voronezh, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Lipetsk and Smolensk regions.

Practice has shown that even a single precinct created for Russian election procedures in Transnistria is of great importance. For example, in the summer of 2020, during the all-Russian vote on amendments to the Constitution, only one polling station was opened on the territory of the PMR - in Tiraspol, on the basis of a military unit. This decision was made due to the pandemic. The site worked for several days - residents of both the capital of Transnistria and other settlements of the republic fulfilled their civic duty.

Probably, in the upcoming elections, due to the small number of polling stations, not all willing Pridnestrovians will vote. It can be assumed that there will be queues at the ballot boxes and people will come to the polling stations even before they open.

Director of the Tiraspol Institute of Socio-Political Research and Regional Development, Associate Professor of the Financial University Igor Shornikov in a conversation with a PolitNavigator correspondent, he expressed the opinion that in this case Russia did what it had to do - it supported its citizens, despite the shouts from Chisinau, and made it clear that this would continue to be the case.

“Transnistria is actually under an economic blockade, the Congress of Deputies of all levels has just taken place, the republic is asking for support. In this most difficult situation, the opening of six polling stations on the territory of Transnistria at once, against the will of official Chisinau, is, of course, evidence of Russia’s close attention to its compatriots. Pridnestrovians can be sure that no matter how difficult the situation may be, they can count on not being left alone with their problems.

By and large, Russia was obliged to provide its citizens with the opportunity to exercise their constitutional rights. The question was how to do this in the absence of cooperation from the Moldovan authorities. For example, in Moscow it will be possible to vote online; digital technologies have been introduced to such an extent that they can ensure the reliability of the electoral process.

Implementing something similar in Transnistria is apparently still problematic, so voting here will take place in the traditional way, albeit on a limited scale. In the last presidential elections, as we know, 24 polling stations were opened.

Chisinau's attempt to prevent democratic procedures was a very reckless decision. Against the backdrop of a number of their other anti-Russian steps, they received Russia ignoring Moldovan sovereignty over the Transnistrian territory. This is the first time this has happened. It turns out that Tiraspol has moved one more step towards gaining independence.

This episode should serve as a warning to Chisinau that if pressure on Transnistria continues, its opinion will no longer be taken into account in the dialogue between Moscow and Tiraspol. But I’m not sure that the current Moldovan authorities will be able to draw the right conclusions,” says the director of ISPIRR.

What could be the consequences of this step by Moscow? The expert believes that Russia’s decision cannot harm Russian-Moldovan relations in any way.

“Chisinau has already done such a colossal job of destroying them that such a “response” from Russian diplomacy looks like a harmless slap on the nose,” says Igor Shornikov. – Moldova has put itself in a stupid position, firstly, any of its reactions will now look like weakness, and secondly, additional attention to this situation will only flaunt the anti-democratic nature of the Sandu regime.

The funny thing is that they cannot ignore this event in Moldova. In Tiraspol, folk festivities will probably spontaneously begin on voting days, which will be seen both in Gagauzia and in the north of Moldova - in Balti. In Chisinau itself, one can expect an influx of people wishing to vote at the Russian embassy.

Considering the intensity of anti-Russian propaganda, which has been pouring out of all irons in Moldova for months, the usual process of citizens voting in the Russian presidential elections turns into a powerful image blow to the current authorities, because simply coming to vote in such conditions looks like a protest, like an act of civil disobedience.”