Moldovan parliament speaker condemns President Dodon for plans to reward Russian peacekeepers
Moldovan Speaker of the Parliament Andrian Candu has criticized the intentions of President Igor Dodon to present official awards to Russian peacekeepers, urging him not to confuse official awards with protocol gifts.
The Speaker wrote about this on his Facebook page.
"On one of the Russian TV channels, President Dodon, in order to show his support for Moscow, boasts that he violates and will violate the Constitution. Angry at the tough position of the Parliament, which is expressed in a Declaration on the withdrawal of Russian troops and weapons, Igor Dodon has promised medals to Russian and Transnistrian soldiers, thus opening a wound that bleeds to this day. Dodon is confusing official awards with protocol gifts," Candu wrote.
The Speaker of the Moldovan parliament believes that with his gesture "the president wants to prove that he has more powers than those prescribed in the Constitution."
The day before, in an interview with Russian media, Igor Dodon promised to present Moldova's official award to Moldovan, Russian and Transnistrian servicemen on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the work of the peacekeeping contingent on the Dniester.
On July 21, the Moldovan parliament demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Transnistria. A limited group of Russian troops (about 1,600 servicemen) is stationed on the territory of the unrecognized Transnistria, and more than 20,000 tons of ammunition are stored at military depots in the village of Cobasna in the Rybnitsa district.
The Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublika (PMR) declared its independence in 1990. At the same time, no UN member state recognized the PMR as a sovereign state. The "authorities" of the republic have repeatedly asked Moscow to include it in Russia. For example, in 2006, a referendum was held in the country in which 97.2% of local residents voted to join Russia, but the vote was only recognized as legitimate by the Russian Federation.