Moldovan president says main obstacle to advancing Moldova’s reintegration process illegal presence of Russian troops

The main obstacle to advancing the country’s reintegration process is the illegal presence of Russian troops and, for this problem, at the present moment, we do not have a solution. We insist on a peaceful resolution of the conflict. President Maia Sandu has made statements to this effect at a news conference.

According to the official, the Russian Federation does not want to withdraw its troops that are stationed illegally on the territory of Moldova.

“In the current context, the government is trying to address other elements of reintegration on the economic and social side. Thus, in the coming months, we will learn more details from the representatives of the cabinet,” noted Maia Sandu.

The president underlined that Moldovan authorities were offering citizens in the Transnistrian region the same European future.

“Such a future is much better than what people have experienced in these years and the situation they are facing. We offer them what we can provide today to citizens on the right bank – security and peace. The passport issued by the constitutional authorities has become very attractive since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, because Moldova is associated with peace. We see an increasing number of people coming to work on the right bank. This shows that salaries are higher here than on the left bank. Not to mention the freedoms that we respect and that are ignored by the regime in Tiraspol. There are many things we can offer. At the same time, it also depends on our fellow citizens there, to see the realities, to understand that Moscow is keeping them in a regime that does them no good, a regime that cannot ensure them a peaceful and prosperous future. It is very clear that the regime there continues to be controlled by Russia and that the most important decisions are taken in Moscow,” Maia Sandu emphasized.

The Moldovan authorities announced, at the end of last year, that they were working on a strategy for the reintegration of the Transnistrian region, since the “5+2” negotiation format is no longer functional and cannot be resumed in the current regional context. Also, in any potential peace negotiations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Moldovan does not intend to be part of a package for the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, but rather part of a regional security package.