Image by The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office
After the pro-EU Moldovan government prevented Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin from flying into Chisinau to meet pro-Russian Moldovan President Igor Dodon, the two met at an alternate location in Tehran. The stated reason was to talk about bilateral relations. The Moldovan Prime Minster, Pavel Filip, who holds power, sees coordination with Russia and Dodon as an effort to undermine the government. Filip holds Russian security services responsible for a massive theft of 20% of the Moldovan treasury in 2015.
“We discussed the measures that need to be taken to prevent any further deterioration in bilateral relations following the recent decision made by the [Moldavan] government [to declare Rogozin persona non grata – TASS], as well as the situation surrounding Transnistria,” Dodon said, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
“It was a constructive meeting…I asked our Russian counterparts to refrain from taking retaliatory steps and imposing sanctions which could damage the interests of companies and ordinary citizens,” he noted.
“I would like to stress that I intend to continue cooperating with Dmitry Olegovich [Rogozin], who is the Russian President’s Special Representative for Transnistria and a co-chairman of the Russian-Moldovan intergovernmental commission,” he added.
Speaking of the refusal to allow Rogzin Moldovan overflight Dodon said, “This position is unacceptable as polls show that more than 65% of Moldova’s citizens consider Russia to be a friendly state.
“As president, I intend to defend the interests of the Moldovan people and use every legal tool to counter the ruling party’s attempts to destroy our relations with Russia, even by boycotting bills passed by the parliament,” Dodon concluded.
