Vadim Krasnoselsky met with the famous international journalist Kapil Komireddi, who asked to record an interview for readers of the famous British publication "The Telegraph". Pridnestrovie: Russian satellite or nascent state? – the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky makes his case.
The author asks, "Where does the future of its breakaway region lie with Moldova voting with a slender majority for closer ties with the EU?" and shares his impressions of Pridnestrovie, his own thoughts and conclusions.
In addition to the link to the article, a transcript of the part of the conversation prepared by the PMR President press service, published in the article, is attached.
Kapil Komireddi:
There are reports that the government of Moldova has employed an international agency to help intensify the reintegration of the PMR into the Moldovan Republic. How do you view this attempt, and what are the prospects for its success?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Mr Komireddi, may I ask you a question? Do you know the history of Pridnestrovie? I mean a small period of history—say the last 250 years? Why do I ask this question? Because if I have to answer your question, I have to touch upon the history of this region a little. Today's events are just one piece of a big chain of events, historical events, and you cannot analyse what is happening today without this long chain of historical events. If we're speaking about a state, we have to speak about the people who live here. I have to explain a little about what kind of people live in Moldova, and what kind of people lives in Pridnestrovie. If you're talking about the territory as such, the territory of Pridnestrovie, we must say that, historically, it has never belonged to Moldova but for a short period of time—the period between 1944 and 1991, when we had to live together jointly in one territorial space. And that territorial space was called the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. This is a very important detail, and we have to look at this detail carefully. In Moldova, people often try to forget it, not to speak about it, and to pretend that these realities have never existed. Here I have to say that, back in 1918, the territory of Bessarabia was annexed by the Romanian kingdom. And the people in former Bessarabia still celebrate those events with a festive spirit, remembering those as happy days. But what was going on here in those days? In 1924, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was created here, on the territory of today’s Pridnestrovie. It was autonomous, and a part of Ukraine, in those days. What was the reason for creating the PMSSR? The main purpose was to preserve the Moldovan identity—Moldovan language, Moldovan history, Moldovan culture—because Romanian authorities in those days wanted to preserve only one culture and one language: Romanian. Moldovan language and culture and traditions were suppressed by the Romanian authorities. This persisted until 1940. The notorious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed on 23 August 1939. By that pact, Bessarabia became part of Russia. And then something important happened: Bessarabia was joined to the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, and the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a result. This is very important to remember. We did not come to them. They were joined by force to us. But as the Soviet Union disintegrated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the former Soviet republics started to declare their sovereignties. The then Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic also took that path. On 23 August 1990, the Parliament of Moldova adopted a declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union. A committee of that Parliament then declared the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact legally void. In the same declaration, the Moldovan Parliament also declared the creation of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic void and illegal. In this way, Moldova legally abandoned us, renounced us, gave up on us. The leaders of the then Moldova—they were the separatists, actually, and they divided the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic into two parts: Moldova proper, and Pridnestrovie. The final document—the Declaration of Independence of Moldova, which was adopted on 27 of August 1991—held that the creation of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic was illegal. Moldova took on the responsibility to undo the consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. And the same declaration of independence positioned Romanian as the only language of Moldova. What do we, the people living here, do in such a situation? Moldova’s leaders not only destroyed the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic and created two parts. They also deprived our population of freedoms, of economic liberties, and of our human rights. The leaders of Pridnestrovie, the deputies of Parliament of the Soviet Pridnestrovie, they had no other choice than to create a mechanism of security, a mechanism of defence, against the measures adopted by Moldova. And at that moment the establishment of the Pridnestrovian statehood actually started. Since then, 33 years have passed—we will celebrate, in September, the 34th year of our independence.
I have also to mention a very important event, a tragic event, that is the war of 1991-1992, unleashed by Moldovan authorities. Nobody was declared responsible for those events, nobody held accountable for them. The most active phase of that war was started on 19 June 1992. But there was a very important event before that. One day before invading the Pridnestrovian city of Bendery, on 18 June 1992, the Parliament of Moldova adopted its decision on finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Pridnestrovie, even as the military of Moldova prepared for invasion. Moldovan authorities don’t like to remember this history. But they can’t wish it away, either. In those very days, there was a so-called “International Peace Mission” in the town of Bendery consisting of different countries who took part in that mission—Romania and, I believe, Russia, and other international observers—to keep the peace in that city. After the first shots were fired, the missionaries of peace just ran away. They were actually rescued by the Pridnestrovian military and brought from Bendery, from that dangerous zone. And yet they didn’t write a word, or say anything, about what happened. Only after the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces, on 29 July 1992, did the war stop.
As I said, almost 34 years have passed. It is very important to understand what kind of people live here. After the Treaty of Jassy in 1792, the Dniester River became effectively the border between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. And the Russian Queen Catherine the Great invited people from different countries and different layers of population to come here and to settle down here. Numerous Moldovans from the right bank of the Dniester also came here. They came, among other things, to get the protection of the Russian Empire for themselves. Many people came from all over the Russian empire. And today we have representatives of around 72 different nationalities and ethnic groups. The largest groups are Moldovans, Ukrainians, and Russians. But we also have the Gagauz, the Bulgarians—also a big group—and Poles, Germans, Jews — this group of people actually started to be called “Pridnestrovian” people. You cannot say that only Moldovans live here. Or that only Russians or Ukrainians or Bulgarians or Gagauz live here. We have a multinational, multi-ethnic Pridnestrovian people. Each group respects the traditions and national peculiarities of others who make up Pridnestrovie. We have three official languages: Moldovan, Russian, Ukrainian. Accordingly, we have schools that use these languages as the medium of instruction. Now let's look at what kind of people were created in Moldova. In Moldova, there is only one official language—Romanian. There is only Romanian literature and only Romanian traditions. You could say that, over the past 33 years, a new people has been created in Moldova who could be called the “Romanian Bessarabians”. They don’t have the Moldovan language. The Moldovan language is only preserved in Pridnestrovie. There is the international registry of languages ISO listing all the languages in the world, including those with only a thousand speakers. This list does not include the Moldovan language—it was excluded. None of the Moldovan leaders even tried to defend the Moldovan language. This is a fact.
So now I can come to your question: whether we are ready or not for reintegration with Moldova. Again, I have to go back to shed light on the negotiation process between Pridnestrovie and Moldova. Pridnestrovie has over the years proposed many variants of coexistence with Moldova. The OSCE mission supported some of the ideas of settlement—for example, it once supported our idea of creating a federal form of coexistence with Moldova. But Moldova, as usual, actually stopped negotiations at the very last moment and left the table. Of course, we are talking about our coexistence in the future. We can, for example, live in a confederation, in which we can preserve the identity of the Pridnestrovian people—the language, traditions, culture, and also the Moldovan language. But the question is: is Moldova ready to do this? I called on the leadership on Moldova to engage in a dialogue. I have done it many times. We unfortunately have no dialogue, and I doubt if we will in the future. The destiny of Pridnestrovie will be decided by the multinational Pridnestrovian peoples—not the President, not parliament, not officials, but only the people. According to our constitutional, the bearer of sovereignty is the people. We have carried out seven referendums here in Pridnestrovie, and the people expressed their will to live in an independent state of Pridnestrovie. Moldova is striving to become a member of the European Union. It's their choice. We are not against it. And the referendum to join the EU, which will take place in Moldova, is only for Moldovan citizens—we were not invited to take part in that referendum. It’s the same as in the 1990s, when we were pushed by Moldova from the legal framework [of their statehood]. So all their talk about “reintegration” is only a cover. In fact, they have actually given up on Pridnestrovie. They refuse to build anything in common with Pridnestrovie. But we are ready to build good neighbourly relations with them. We have to keep the peace. Our economy must work. People must be able to move freely between these two banks of the river. We are ready to do this. We have to talk about this, and we have to move in this direction as well.
Kapil Komireddi:
Is there any ongoing dialogue between you and the leadership of Moldova?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
We don’t have an official dialogue. We have negotiators from either side—two individuals—who conduct talks. There are no negotiations at the highest level.
Kapil Komireddi:
You seem to be arguing that Pridnestrovie is the true repository of Moldovan culture and traditions, and what is accepted as the internationally recognized state of Moldova is simply an extension of Romania, correct?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Yes, that would be correct. Moldova is the only state in the world that voluntarily gave up on its state identity. Think about it: Moldova doesn’t have its own language. Take Ukraine. They have their own language. The Poles have their language. Germans have German language. Moldovans have the Romanian language. Besides language, there is literature, traditions, arts—everything is Romanian in Moldova. Moldova has been Romanianising of its own will. If we look at Moldovan culture, it’s historically quite long. It has a history of around seven centuries. Moldovans historically used the Cyrillic script, and their leaders called themselves “Moldovan”. Nobody is against the Romanian state. Romania is a proud and strong country. But we are talking about the Moldovan identity, which is preserved only in Pridnestrovie. This fact, I think, irritates the state of Moldova. We have people here who proudly identify as Moldovans—about 150,000 people, out of a total population of 500,000—and they identify their language as Moldovan. But the Moldovan state made the choice to identify everything as Romanian.
Kapil Komireddi:
Moldovan, the language you speak of, how distinct is it from Romanian? You write it in a different script in Pridnestrovie. But, well, there are other languages that are written in their native script and also written in a Romanised or Latin script, but the languages and their essence remain the same, don’t they?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Of course, these two languages, Moldovan and Romanians, are very, very similar. Here, you may have to ask the linguists. But let me try to answer your question. When the Moldovan language used the Cyrillic script, they had many words and linguistic features from the Slavic languages, from Russian. When Romania as a state was created and established, the official language still was this Moldovan language. Romanians then began calling their language, not Moldovan, but Romanian, in accordance with the name of their state. And they began using the Latin script. And after they introduced the Latin script, a number of words and expressions from Italian, from Spanish, from Latin-script languages—they flowed into the Romanian language. But the base is the same for Moldovan and Romanian. There may be some minor differences of dialect and so on. The Moldovans now use the Latin script and call it the Romanian language. And thus the language they use has acquired certain differences from the language our Moldovans use. Nobody is against the Romanian language. It has the right to exist. But there is also the Moldovan language.
Kapil Komireddi:
If the Moldovan government were formally to rename their official language and call it “Moldovan”, would that reassure you enough to reintegrate?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
This is practically impossible. I would like to remind you that the main document of Moldova is the Declaration on Independence of Moldova, adopted on 27 August 1991, and it says very clearly that the national language is the Romanian language. Moldova’s constitution calls the state’s language “Moldovan”. But there is a decision by the Constitution Court of Moldova saying that the Declaration of Independence of Moldova is above, legally superior to, the constitution of Moldova. To smooth those differences they adopted another law in Moldova affirming that the only official language in Moldova is Romanian. So even if any leader of Moldova says that the country’s language is Moldovan, it will remain, officially, the Romanian language, which is strongly backed by the law and can’t simply be dislodged.
Kapil Komireddi:
But let’s assume it happens theoretically. Were there to be a leader determined to assuage and assure the Pridnestrovian people, and were that leader to change the name of the language, would that satisfy you?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
You know, it’s not only the language that defines the future or the coexistence of these two groups. The people are the main decisionmaker. And here we have, not Moldovan or Romanian, but the Pridnestrovian people. So if the Moldovan leadership adopts Moldovan as the language, it would be regarded as their own internal affair, their own business. It will divide Moldova. And if it happens, if Moldova is divided into “Moldovan” and “Romanian” peoples, it would be a good ground for conflict, because a big part of people living in Moldova regard themselves as Romanians. And this kind of declaration on language would be quite dangerous for the stability of Moldova, and we would look at any such declaration very carefully, because language has always been a way to conflict. We would like to see our neighbour without internal conflicts. We would like to see stability there.
Kapil Komireddi:
Mr. President, according to you there are representatives of 72 nationalities and ethnic groups living together. Do all these people enjoy the same rights and are they equal?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
After the disintegration on the Soviet Union, the Pridnestrovian people chose a polyethnic, multinational vector of development. Moldova chose a mono-national path. They just declared one ethnic group as the dominant group. Look carefully. In countries where the leaders chose a mono-national path, they had conflicts. We haven’t had any interethnic conflicts within our territory. Moreover, if we take all the history of this region, starting from the period of the Russian Empress Elizabeth, we haven't had any interethnic conflicts on this territory, ever. In fact, this is one of the greatest achievements of Pridnestrovie. Russians and Ukrainians live in peace here. Since the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, we received about 230000 refugees from Ukraine. More than 45,000 of them have settled here permanently. We have never had any serious problems with the refugees coming from Ukraine, and we will never have those problems. Perhaps we are the only country in the world that has all the channels on our televisions—the Ukrainian channels and the Russian channels. You can watch Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy at the same time on our TV. And it's up to people to make their choice. This is what democracy is.
Kapil Komireddi:
What I hear is that Pridnestrovie is a satellite of Russia. But on the other hand, I didn’t even know that you accepted so many Ukrainians. How would you respond to the assertion of people who say that Pridnestrovie is a satellite of Russia?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
We need to remember history again. Pridnestrovie never legally left the Russian Empire. And we did not leave the Soviet Union. When these empires were destroyed, we simply remained independent. Therefore, of course, we are connected with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union by history, culture, common traditions, common life. How can this be destroyed? On the contrary, we want to develop normal partnership and friendly relations with Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova. This is normal.
Kapil Komireddi:
Can we say that you are categorically not part of Russia?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
We are not part of the Russian Federation. No way.
Kapil Komireddi:
React to such a description of Pridnestrovie, which is constantly written about you by the international media: that you were created by Russia, created by the Soviet Union and were created as a sleeper cell in order to wake up at the right moment and do all sorts of things and create problems.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
There is a big problem in the so-called world community called "stereotype". The Soviet Union did not create us. Pridnestrovie appeared as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. The fact that Russia stopped the war here in 1992 and continues the peacekeeping mission to this day, for this they deserve gratitude, a big thank you. It was the peacekeeping operation (and in addition to Russia, it includes peacekeepers from both Moldova and Pridnestrovie) that guaranteed peace on Pridnestrovian soil and the negotiation process. Why do such statements arise? I listened to some Moldovan politicians, and they say that Russia attacked Moldova. Which is a lie. Russia certainly did not attack Moldova, it was Moldova that attacked Pridnestrovie, peaceful people. Russia stopped this war. Now it is advantageous, of course, to blame Russia, to link what happened with Russia, to hang labels and so on. But these are false stereotypes, which some political leaders rely on, unfortunately. We have 220 thousand citizens of Russia living here. About the same number of citizens of Moldova. There are 80 thousand citizens of Ukraine. These are not refugees, these are our citizens. And these people have the right to choose their vector.
Kapil Komireddi:
When the war in Ukraine began, the Moldovan authorities, Moldovan representatives often threw out information that Pridnestrovie would now declare its independence and that Russia allegedly supports the idea of Pridnestrovie declaring its independence for some of its own purposes. Are you really considering the possibility of declaring full independence for Pridnestrovie at the moment?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
We are independent in fact. We don't have to declare anything. We don't have international recognition, but we're striving. We wish to have that, but only by way of negotiations, excluding any kind of force and violence. When the war in Ukraine started, there were a lot of different leaks suggesting Pridnestrovie somehow represents a danger to Ukraine. This is not correct. I give my guarantee: no harm will come from the territory of Pridnestrovie, ever, to anybody. We are not aggressors. No war will start from the territory of Pridnestrovie against Ukraine or Moldova. I am sure that Moldovan leaders do not want a war with Pridnestrovie. The negotiation process should be one step ahead of everything. All of us have to be able to negotiate to reach some compromise. It's very easy to start a war, but it's very difficult to stop it. Peaceful negotiation is a lot of labour, actually.
You have to be very careful about what you say, so that you are not accused by someone that you want to create trouble. I'm personally responsible for the lives of people living in Pridnestrovie. Personally. I have stated that we will only take the path of peace. And no matter the difficulties, we will continue the negotiation process. I've always said that if, God forbid, we have a war in Pridnestrovie, then it's a direct way to a military conflict between NATO and Russia, which would lead to a nuclear war. If there is a war in Pridnestrovie, it will bring the world closer to the apocalypse. We should not allow that to happen.
Kapil Komireddi:
Even though you are saying that you will never start a war, do your fear that your territory may be used to start a war—or to escalate the war that is already in action next door in Ukraine? Let’s not forget: there is a large Soviet-era weapons stockpile within your country. Do you ever see this territory being misused by Russia?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I assure you, I totally exclude this possibility. It’s not possible to use our territory for such ends. Russia, for example, has a mandate for a peacekeeping mission here. They carry out special function functions within this peacekeeping operation. According to this mandate, Russia has to defend the population people living here. As long as there is no aggression against the people of Pridnestrovie, there will be no response. This is why I can say that Russia does not threaten anyone by using, in any way, the territory of Pridnestrovie.
As for the huge ammunition depot in our country—yes, I agree, you are correct. It's a big problem. It's a huge threat. But we have taken a position with Russia that we want the disposal of the armaments and ammunitions which are kept in those depots.
Kapil Komireddi:
So you see the existence of that weapons depot as a problem that you wish to eliminate?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Yes. This huge depot of ammunition, especially given the conditions we have today, is dangerous. Thank God, everybody seems to understand this. My wish—my hope—is that, sooner or later, the war between Russia and Ukraine will end. And then we have to decide the fate of that weapons warehouse. It will be a decision taken by Russia, Moldova, and Pridnestrovie. The role of Pridnestrovie in this process would be ecological, a technical role, focused on what to do with this ammunition, either to remove it from our land or to destroy or dispose of it right here. In 2019, I met the (now former) Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, and raised this issue. It was our common view that this arsenal should be reduced. Reduction was our common idea. But then, of course, there was the pandemic, followed by the war in Ukraine.
Kapil Komireddi:
How do you view the conflict in Ukraine? You are a victim of aggression yourself, as you’ve stated, and you were very generous in taking in the refugees from the war. How do you think it started and how does it end?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Refugees are not our biggest problem. We have logistical problems. One of the biggest is that the border with Ukraine is closed. As a result, economic ties and ties between people and relatives have been severed. I think that the war between Russia and Ukraine is a catastrophe. It perhaps could have been prevented, but that did not happen, unfortunately. The most important thing is peace, and you cannot avoid peace. It will happen sooner or later. Unfortunately, many people die. Cities are destroyed, even states and countries are destroyed, in the process.
Kapil Komireddi:
One of the things that is said about Pakistan is that, while most countries have an army, Pakistan's army has a country. Your country reminds me of that saying because it is said to be owned by one company, Sheriff. The whole infrastructure of the state is thought to exist to support that company.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
It is, again, one of those stereotypes about Pridnestrovie. I am sure that in India there are lots of very rich people who also own many things. And the same is true in Britain. It's not a bad thing. Sheriff is the biggest investor in Pridnestrovie, the biggest taxpayer. Yes, Sheriff owns a football club, it owns a lot of trading companies. But all of this only a small part of the overll Pridnestrovian enterprise. Sheriff actually brought around 40 new production sites and production technologies here. Sheriff invests its revenues into Pridnestrovie. Is this bad? There are many rich people who spend their money buying foreign football clubs. This company, Sheriff, invested money into creating a football team in their own country.
I support competition in economy. What we're building is a socially oriented market economy. We don't want any wild capitalism here. We don't think that socialism is possible anymore, either. Sheriff, therefore, is playing according to the rules of the state. Their business must be socially oriented. We are looking very carefully at this.
Kapil Komireddi:
Are Sheriff subordinate to the state? They're not more powerful than the state?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
There is nothing stronger than the state in Pridnestrovie, and nothing can be stronger. Otherwise, it will not be a state.
Kapil Komireddi:
You are accused of being a hub for smuggling. You know this, surely. You might say it's another stereotype. But to the outside world, PMR looks like a strange place which exists to facilitate smuggling.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
This is ridiculous. We don't have any access to the seashore. On one side is Moldova. On the other side is Ukraine. How can you promote smuggling? How is it physically possible? We have a state budget in Pridnestrovie amounting to around 450 million US dollars. That’s less than half the budget of Manchester United. I am speaking of it in the sense of different financial possibilities, right? You better ask those people who make ghd allegation that Pridnestrovie is a smuggling blackhole. How can you smuggle, physically, anything to and from Pridnestrovie? Before the war, there was a European border mission which looked at any movement across our borders with a magnifying glass and controlled everything that moved across our frontiers. Now, of course, the borders are not closed.
Kapil Komireddi:
There is only one party in Pridnestrovie, a multi-party system as such does not exist?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Why? No. There are many parties, many public organizations, many NGOs. The leading party is the Obnovlenie party. But no one forbids creating parties and engaging in political life. Our Supreme Council is not formed on the basis of party lists, and parties do not compete within the Supreme Council. People are elected regardless of which party they belong to. It is the right of the people to choose one candidate or another. Our society is not actually divided into parties. We do not have divisions, like, for example, in the States: Republicans and Democrats, or in the Russian Federation: Communists, United Russia, Just Russia, LDPR. People choose their deputies, their representatives not based on their party affiliation, but based on what they can do in practice. What they promise, what they deliver. People don’t care at all which party. Please, go to the street now and ask, which party do you know or which party do you vote for? You will be misunderstood. You are a foreigner and do not understand the essence of Pridnestrovian society. Here in Pridnestrovie, people put the leadership qualities of a specific person first, and where there is a party division, they vote for parties, not for individuals. We have a small state, and only 33 deputies of the Supreme Council. People choose them based on the personality of each. This is probably more important than voting for a party.
Kapil Komireddi:
What about the accusations by human rights organisations that opposition members are kidnapped, disappeared, killed? There was one rather case of an opposition leader who was found murdered last year.
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Opposition leaders are not killed in our country. This is a lie. If a person died as a result of some criminal showdown, it is possible. According to statistics, about 17-18 murders are committed in Pridnestrovie per year. The people who commit these murders are prosecuted under the law of the PMR. There is one peculiarity in Pridnestrovie. I am always for the opposition. It is interesting to talk with the opposition. But how does the opposition differ from the enemies of Pridnestrovie? There is an opposition in India, I suppose? Is that right? Let's say that in India a certain party or a certain leader says: I am in the opposition. And at the same time, they want India to prosper, India to be independent, and they do not want India to be destroyed as a state. But if someone in India says that India needs to be divided into many states, that statehood needs to be destroyed, can this person be considered an oppositionist? Those who believe that they are in the opposition and at the same time want independence for Pridnestrovie, as the Pridnestrovie people want, but want a different development, along the path that they themselves see, but preserving the Pridnestrovian statehood, there are no such leaders in Pridnestrovie now. But when people call for killing their neighbors on the basis of their nationality, commit extremist terrorist acts, want the destruction of the Pridnestrovian people, the Pridnestrovian statehood, ultimately, violate the Constitution of Pridnestrovie, such people cannot be considered opposition. Such people are usually called criminals in any state. The law is applied to them and it cannot be otherwise. Therefore, if tomorrow there is an opposition leader who wants independence for Pridnestrovie, of course, I will talk to him. Only in the case, again, if he represents someone, some people. But in general, there are no problems in the opposition.
Kapil Komireddi:
The leader of the Communist Party was murdered in March. Has there been any resolution to that?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
He was murdered in July. His house was broken into, and during this burglary, he was killedTo ensure that there is no doubt about the fairness of the investigation, we have handed over all the materials, all the examinations to the Moldovan side, the Moldovan Prosecutor's Office. They are also investigating this crime. I hope that the persons who committed this murder will be brought to strict criminal responsibility. We have allowed the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs to inspect the scene of the crime.
Kapil Komireddi:
And did they come here?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Yes. Of course. And all the biological fluids that were found during the inspection of the crime scene were sent to Moldova for examination. If Moldova detains the suspect, we will be able to name the killer, find out the true motives of this crime. For understanding. So that there are no provocations. Mr. Khorzhan received 3% of the votes in the presidential elections, that is, he did not represent a real political force.
Kapil Komireddi:
Was he not a threat as a politician?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Not a threat, of course.
Kapil Komireddi:
So you allowed investigators from Moldova to come and inspect his house?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Of course. Moreover, if Moldova detains the suspects, then, as I have already said, we will transfer all the originals of the criminal case to Moldova.
Kapil Komireddi:
And you will allow Moldova to handle this case and carry out the process?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Naturally. Moldova has a chance to solve this crime. Because there is every reason to believe that Khorzhan's killers are from Moldova...
