Moldova to assess damages caused by the ‘Russian occupation’ of Transnistria
The Moldovan authorities plan to hire an international law firm to assess the damage from Russia's military presence in Transnistria, as stated by the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Andrian Candu, in an interview with the Latvian newspaper Latvijas Avize.
According to him, Moscow might be presented with a bill which will amount to billions of dollars.
"We intend to hire an international law firm to calculate the losses caused by the Russian presence in Transdniestria for 25 years. The bill [for the Russian Federation] will amount to billions of dollars," Candu said.
The Chairman of the Moldovan Parliament stressed that there is no doubt about the correctness of the use of the term "occupation." He also said that in Transnistria, according to the data of the Moldovan authorities, there are 2,000 Russian military who conduct joint exercises with the so-called Transnistrian army. "Russia has violated international law," the politician said.
"Russian military units are a threat to security, since this is an illegal military presence, the same as in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Eastern Ukraine," Candu said.
He added that the Moldovan authorities are trying to discuss this issue at the international level and hopes that it will be raised at the UN.
In August last year, the permanent representative of Moldova to the UN, Victor Moraru, informed the UN secretariat about the intention of the country to introduce the issue of "the complete withdrawal of foreign armed forces from the Republic of Moldova" as a separate item for consideration by the UN General Assembly.