The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I turn to the leadership of the Republic of Moldova.
The reason for my address to you was that Pridnestrovian entrepreneurs, individuals and legal entities learned about new duties introduced by the customs of the Republic of Moldova for our subjects of foreign economic activity at the beginning of January, on the New Year holidays. In other words, Moldova imposed certain duties on Pridnestrovie. Would you say it was a shock for us? Probably not. Was it unexpected? Probably true. It was unexpected.
Why not shock? The entire history of relations between Pridnestrovie and Moldova is full of such events and situations. I want to recall the history of these relationships, because even the decision that was made in early January has cause-and-effect connections with other events that the Moldovan government took against Pridnestrovie. June 23, 1990. The Parliament of Moldova (then the Supreme Council) made a decision on the sovereignty of Moldova and recognized the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as void even during the existence of the Soviet Union. Its legal consequences were nullified. The most important thing is that the creation of the Moldavian SSR was recognized as illegal. You managed not only to leave the Soviet Union, to take a step away from the Soviet Union, you managed to leave your own republic – the Moldavian SSR then. This is about the question of separatism, who of us is the separatist. You are the separatists. The power of Moldova is separate. You destroyed the common Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, dividing it into two entities: present-day Moldova – historical Bessarabia and present-day Pridnestrovie – historical MASSR. You confirmed with your Declaration of Independence of August 27, 1991 all the legal consequences of the above-mentioned act and the illegality of the creation of the Moldavian SSR with the recognition of one language in Moldova – Romanian.
What could we do, dear ladies and gentlemen? After all, the people of Pridnestrovie found themselves outside the legal framework of the Republic of Moldova. Our residents who live here did not have the right to legal protection, our national associations, our common Pridnestrovian people were infringed, and the economy was infringed. I'm not even talking about the fact that it was Moldova, it was you who treacherously attacked Pridnestrovie. I want to remind you again of historical facts.
The Parliament of Moldova decided on an exclusively peaceful solution to the Pridnestrovian issue on June 18, 1992. There was a decision, and there was trust in you. The city of Bendery was unblocked by our armed forces. And three mobilized columns of military personnel and special police units entered the city of Bendery in the afternoon on June 19. Even the most naif person understands perfectly well that it is impossible to mobilize troops in half a day. That is, the parliament knew about the armed attack on Pridnestrovie when making its decision. People died then – not only the defenders of Pridnestrovie, but women, children, and old people. Who was responsible for this? Who was responsible? Who even apologized for the murder of civilians on the territory of Pridnestrovie, regardless of their citizenship and so on? Nobody.
Pridnestrovie sought dialogue even after this. I will remind you of the opinion of the OSCE Mission, which was expressed in 1993, about the federalization of Moldova, that a unitary Moldova is impossible from the point of view of preserving the rights of people on both banks of the Dniester. There were various initiatives by different political figures then. It was Moldova that walked away from the negotiating table and left at the very last moment.
If we take our latest agreements, these are the “Berlin”, “Berlin+” protocols, signed in 2017-2018, then Moldova stopped implementing these protocol decisions starting from 2019, citing all sorts of excuses. Something like the wrong people accepted and signed them, they suddenly became corrupt. It doesn't matter. These are all excuses. If we continue this topic, we can recall the “5+2” format that you destroyed, of course. It was not the pandemic or the fighting in Ukraine that did this. This is 2019, when your political representatives walked away from the negotiating table in Bratislava and did not sign the final document. Someone was behind this, someone gave commands to destroy the “5+2” format.
Of course, the pandemic and the fighting in Ukraine did not bring optimism to the negotiation process then. There are circumstances that hinder it. But the Pridnestrovian side is ready for negotiations in the “5+2” format, for the restoration of this format, and on other platforms. What for? In order to discuss the life of people living on the right and left banks. The people are suffering.
I want to remind politicians of one important point. Politicians come to power not for PR, not for slogans, but for specific actions and deeds, for the people living in a particular territory. This is the only reason why people vote for you, dear leaders.
What happened in early January is understandable, unfortunately.
Reading the Moldavian media, I noticed the nuance: the right political wing is announcing some kind of victory. What kind of victory are you talking about? You don't know what you are really doing. This is not a strong step, it is a weak step. You are weak leaders. You simply do not understand the consequences that may follow your actions. This is a sign of weakness. The manifestation of power is a conversation, a dialogue. What you have done is a path to nowhere, into emptiness. Empty relationships, empty conversations, the path of tension escalation. It is not the government that suffers from your actions. How can you not understand this? People living here, citizens of Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and other countries are suffering from your actions – even those who voted for you, perhaps. You are not interested in this. You want to catch the “political hype”. Well, please, you can try. But the path of escalation is a path to nowhere, as history shows. Only negotiations can solve certain problems. To introduce restrictions treacherously and without warning is a blow to the entire population of Pridnestrovie. Do you want to Europe? This is your choice, not of people yet. The people didn't vote. There will be a referendum – we will see. This is your choice. I want to remind you that Europe always declares human values: human rights, the right to freedom, the right to entrepreneurship. It was Europe that granted Pridnestrovie the right, through the DCFTA program, to conduct foreign economic activity with the European Union, we thank them for this. What did you do? You did everything to put a spoke in the wheels by these decisions. It is you who do not open bank accounts for our enterprises that are registered in Moldova. It is you who will paralyze the banking system. When we ask you to give an algorithm, a formula, there is zero response. All the refusals are not even written, but oral, referring to some upper management: make an agreement there and we will register your enterprise. This is a bluff, this is a deception. It is you who violate all European values. If we are talking about national autonomies, the example of Gagauzia is enough for us. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of Moldova, but we see very well how the laws, the constitutional law on the status of this subject – Gagauzia, are not respected. We understand perfectly well what will happen if something happens. We see elections to your local authorities, when some officials decide to remove people from the election race – not a court decision, but a decision of the people. There is a statement from the Venice Commission – the European Commission – on this matter, and it is extremely negative. The introduction of duties for our economic entities, for the citizens of Pridnestrovie, is not European values, it is a violation of human rights, the right to entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial activity. I want to remind you that taxes form the local budget, and the local budget pays for all social obligations. There are no other formulas and there will not be any here in Pridnestrovie during 33 years, the fourth decade already. This is not a victory, this is a defeat, your moral defeat therefore.
I ask the Moldovan authorities to come to their senses and abandon the path of aggression, to take the path of normal peaceful positive negotiations, which I constantly urge you to do. Maybe you'll hear me someday.
