The Russian authorities must take both political and economic effects on Moldova for it to end the blockade of Pridnestrovie, Alexander Brod, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), believes.
“It must be taken into account that more than 200 thousand residents of Pridnestrovie have Russian citizenship, and the Russian Federation should not put up with a serious restriction of the rights of its fellow citizens living on the territory of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. I believe that the Russian Federation should use both political and economic mechanisms to influence the leadership of the Republic of Moldova to end the economic blockade and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe for the inhabitants of the unrecognized Republic of Pridnestrovie,” Alexander Brod is quoted by the Russian Agency for Legal and Judicial Information.
As the member of the Human Rights Council emphasized, he is ready to tell the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin about this problem.
“For my part, if there is an opportunity to speak at a meeting of HRC members with the President of the Russian Federation in December, I intend to voice this problem,” he said.
Brod also said that the President of Pridnestrovie appealed to the UN and the OSCE because of the aggravation of the situation and increasing the economic blockade of the republic.
“All international agreements between Ukraine and Moldova have been nullified, while the process of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian settlement has been stopped. The Moldovan side is actively sabotaging the existing negotiation mechanisms, ignoring the appeals of the Pridnestrovian leadership with a proposal to intensify the negotiation process,” he said.
According to the HRC member, Chisinau puts up all sorts of obstacles and limits the supply of essential goods to Pridnestrovie, including medicines and necessities, and also puts pressure on the economic enterprises of the republic.
“The Moldovan leadership has also taken the path of selecting part of the natural gas intended by Russia for Pridnestrovie. It comes to the point that the leaders of the authorities of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic on the border of Moldova are subjected to humiliating searches, as a result of which they are late for flights and, surely, this is also serious moral damage,” Brod said.