Moldavian political analyst: Russia will use Transdnestr referendum to exert pressure on Chisinau

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“The show called ‘a referendum on Transdnestr independence’ is staged by Moscow’s puppets on a Kremlin’s instruction,” Program Director at the Institute of public policy Oazu Nantoy said in an interview to Info-Prim-neo.

“No chance that any legal outcomes will follow,” the political analyst asserts. He argues that Russia is allegedly trying to use the “pseudo-results” of the referendum to exert pressure on the Republic of Moldova to convince it to accept, maybe in a altered form, provisions of the Kozak memorandum. Otherwise, it will proceed along the line of “silent annexation of the eastern part of the Republic of Moldova.”

In this regard, Nantoy mentioned the proposed introduction of the Russian ruble and transferring of the Transdnestr education system to the Russian standards. “We are speaking of the forceful incorporation in a situation when the leadership of the Republic of Moldova for 15 years have almost fatally failed to develop a national strategy of restoring territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova,” he concluded.

As REGNUM informed earlier, a referendum is being held Sep 17 in Transdnestr, to which two questions have been put:

“1. Do you support the course for independence of the Transdnestr Moldavian Republic and Transdnestr’s further entering the Russian Federation?

2. Do you consider possible giving up independence of the Transdnestr Moldavian Republic and further Transdnestr’s entering the Republic of Moldova?”