At times of economic crises, epidemics and catastrophes, there are always those who are trying to exploit the situation to their advantage. War is when one fights to the last ditch and another gets rich. Unfortunately, the Moldovan authorities are on the list of those who get rich. It is obvious that in Chisinau they see coronavirus pandemic and related states` self-isolation as an excellent opportunity to put even more pressure on Pridnestrovie. There were used all kinds of tricks - economic, banking, and, of course, informational. Artificially generated human rights issue has a special place in the pressure means arsenal. Despite the fact that the UN expert, Thomas Hammarberg, put an end to this issue, having given an upbeat assessment of Pridnestrovie, Moldova continues to confuse wishful thinking.
"Special Operation" in the Style of Moldova
Chisinau has long been trying to denigrate Pridnestrovie making up various scary stories about human rights. Among the shooters, there was also the Commissioner for Human Rights of Moldova, Mikhail Kotorobay. Recently, the Moldovan Ombudsman stated that the measures taken in Pridnestrovie against the spread of COVID-19 were supposedly too strict. He says that they are not proportional to the situation that determines them. In particular, the Ombudsman of Moldova was confused by restrictions on movement and visits to public places. Kotorobay saw it as human rights violation and promised to tell the international negotiators about this.
The Ombudsman of the Republic of Moldova even demanded the establishment of a special working group on human rights to consider this issue. However, such a proposal was not accepted by the Moldovan authorities due to the fact that the OSCE mission building, where meetings of the working groups on the Pridnestrovian settlement take place, was placed under quarantine.
All this primitive performance of “special operation” is quite in the style of Moldova: first, it goes accusing PMR, making fuss and clarion calls to take measures, and then quickly steps aside before the trumped-up nature of the next demarche became obvious to everyone. Moreover, in this case, the blame was implicitly placed on one of the mediators in the person of the OSCE. They say that because of the quarantine enforced by the organization, it is impossible to discuss the issue. It looks hypocritical since we remember how many times Chisinau broke up the meetings of working groups without any COVID-19.
Who Actually Violates Human Rights?
Kotorobay`s statements are no good at all. After all, how does Pridnestrovie differ from the whole world in terms of the measures imposed to combat the virus? Restrictions are introduced in many countries (including the European Union, which we certainly couldn`t get our tongues around to incriminate with human rights violation) in order to stop the pandemic. The situation was taken under control in countries where prompt and harsh measures had been taken (China, for instance). The states that neglected them (for example, Italy) turned out to be the most vulnerable and had to take them only when the victims were numbered in their thousands. Today, countries where they hesitated to impose restrictions even longer (USA) have become the main focus of COVID-19 and are facing terrible consequences.
Moldova, by the way, is also more likely among late-comers. When Pridnestrovie took the first measures (entry restrictions for foreigners from countries with cases of coronavirus infections were introduced as early as January 31), the Moldovan authorities shrugged their shoulders and complained to the OSCE. As a result, now there are almost two thousands of those infected in Moldova. Now the leadership of the neighboring republic is trying to take control of the situation and introducing new restrictions, but for some reason Kotorobay is trying not to notice them, as well as many other problems.
For example, there is a complete failure to protect the medical staff, which is on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus. Many doctors are not equipped with all the means of protection. As a result, more than 400 doctors have already been infected in Moldova. This is one of the highest rates of medical personnel affected by disease in the world. Yet Kotorobay says nothing, he is not interested.
And what about the requirement for migrants to purchase medical policies for 200 euros? Isn`t this a violation of human rights? Maybe, the Ombudsman of Moldova should pay attention to his own country rather than make an empty fuss around Pridnestrovie?
If anyone violates human rights in Pridnestrovie, it is Moldova itself.
There are cargo delays and banking problems. We can recall the incidents when the Moldovan doctors did not have time to run all the tests sent from Pridnestrovie and put them off for later. Moreover, Moldovan officials expressed their "disapproval" about the possibility of opening testing laboratory in Tiraspol. And this, by the way, would be good for everyone, freeing up medical center in Chisinau and allowing all tests from the PMR to be run on site. But it seems that for the Moldovan authorities, politics is more important than humanitarian expediency. Fight dirty when everyone negotiates peace putting all their resources to fight pandemic - this is quite in the style of the Moldovan political elite.
Nikolay Syrbu
