Alexander Lagutin, RIA News agency:
Vadim Nikolaevich, 33 years since the Bender tragedy. You held a meeting with the defenders and talked about how history is being rewritten in Moldova and this could lead to a repeat of the tragedy in Bendery. We hear statements from Moldovan leaders. Dorin Recean recently said that the entire administration in Pridnestrovie are criminals. Nantoi said literally the other day that it is necessary to carry out a "depridnestrofication" of the population. Such statements will not lead to a repeat of the tragedy in Bendery, what do you think?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I will start with why memory and history are needed. The root of history and memory of events is not to repeat, to learn from mistakes, lessons, to draw conclusions and not to repeat. I do not want to comment on the statements of madmen, they are probably everywhere. Especially with a Nazi bias, like Nantoi. By and large, everyone has gotten used to it and most of the population of Moldova does not take it seriously. You come to the conclusion that people have not learned their lessons, have not studied the history that was. Surely, they do this intentionally, in order to repeat it if possible. What is the "depridnestrofication" of the population? These are purely ethnic cleansings, this is the murder of dissidents and other violence. This is what some citizens of the Republic of Moldova are calling for. Unfortunately, the authorities do not respond to this properly. They sow discord in society with their statements. Someone is satisfied with this. Attempts to rewrite history have been going on since 1993, presenting everything in a different light by and large. It has already been rewritten in this country today, where the history textbooks that are used to teach children indicate that it was not the Moldovan armed forces that attacked Pridnestrovie, but Pridnestrovie, together with Russia, that attacked the Republic of Moldova. I am simply interested in, how it was possible geographically for Pridnestrovians to attack their own Dubossary in March 1992, for example. How was it possible for Pridnestrovians to bomb their own city of Dubossary with mortar shelling, artillery shelling, and kill civilians there? No, gentlemen, you are mistaken. You are not even embarrassed about it. The lie is so obvious and blatant on your part that you probably revel in it. The same goes for the city of Bendery. I have already spoken about this, but I will repeat it again. Moldovan propagandists, they have nothing to do with history; I don't know where they got their scientific titles regarding history, I won't, so to speak, generate versions, but the fact is that they are pure propagandists. Their whole story about the Pridnestrovians attacking Moldova together with the Russian army looks simply false and blasphemous. The invasion of the city of Bendery took place on June 19, 1992, and on June 18, 1992, the Moldovan parliament adopted a decision on a peaceful resolution of the Pridnestrovian issue in fact. There were appropriate observers here and so on. On the 18th, the city was unblocked by the security forces of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, Pridnestrovie. Security units of the Republic of Moldova entered here from three sides in the afternoon, at 16:00. From three sides. These are Kaushany, Varnitsa to a lesser extent and Kishinev the main one. Yes, mobilized units entered here, that is, Moldova was preparing for war, preparing for more than a month or two. People had to be mobilized, they had to be prepared, trained, fed, equipped, and so on. This is all a process, a long process. And the units came in then: mobilization forces also came in in addition to the police forces. Many units were equipped with Romanian weapons at the same time. This was confirmed by the capture of these weapons, including captured ones. Therefore, there was powerful preparation. That is, people were preparing for war, the armed forces of Moldova were preparing. The bloody regime of Snegur started this war. Snegur is bloody, I am not ashamed to say this. He killed people here in Bendery, civilians. The war, the preparation for the invasion of the city of Bendery was accompanied by artillery preparation at the same time. They bombed residential areas. There were a lot of losses in the first days of the war, a lot of civilians died, who were not ready for such a development, for such a scenario, the establishment of the so-called constitutional order. This is the truth. When they write in history books that Russia attacked together with Pridnestrovie, this is a lie of course. Russia was involved, but it was already the end of July 1992. The peacekeeping operation began. Russia stopped the slaughter. The peacekeeping mission has lasted 33 years. Many on the Moldovan side criticize it, saying it's time to end. For me personally, it would be better to have a peacekeeping mission for 33 years than a war for 3 months. If someone wants to see what war is really like. Unfortunately, there are pictures now. Look at what is happening to the cities, what is happening to the people in these cities. This should probably calm you down, Mr. Nantoi and all sorts of Nazis like him. This is the truth of this whole process. Therefore, we must tell the truth, of course. Otherwise, we can repeat the previous scenarios. I am convinced that the Moldovan leadership still has common sense and does not want a repeat of the fratricidal war here, does not want a repeat of the slaughter that took place in 1992, with the current development of events, it can even surpass 1992. This is absolutely unacceptable.
Svetlana Tsvetkova, TSV:
Vadim Nikolaevich, we talked to the participants of these tragic events, to the defenders of Pridnestrovie today. They told us that they no longer expect that anyone in Kishinev will admit guilt for unleashing the war on the Dniester. What do you think about this?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I think that today's government of Moldova, like the previous one, no matter who occupies an official position – left, right, it makes no difference, no one is ready to admit guilt and repent at least to the people. I am not talking about a legal assessment. I am talking at least about comprehending and declaring that yes, it was a mistake, it was a fratricidal war, it was unleashed incorrectly. Snegur, bloody Snegur, led in such a way that with the opportunity to make two mistakes, he made four mistakes. All his decisions are absolutely senseless and aimed at evil. So the war happened. It was necessary to reconcile, not to divide. It was necessary to unite, not to fight. They chose the path of aggression. Naturally, aggression only leads to trouble. I still think that politicians will appear in Moldova who will tell the truth sooner or later. Just the truth – what happened. There is no need to even blame anyone for this. The truth must be told. Only after the truth will there be understanding and repentance. There will be forgiveness. We must strive for this. I am focused on forgiveness and reconciliation in general. Time is running out. You cannot live only with memories of aggression and thoughts of revenge. In no case. This is also a path to nowhere. This is also wrong. We must remember, but living this constantly, with this thought, is also a mistake. The Pridnestrovian people are striving for reconciliation. This is evident. No one is shouting out any slogans now. You see, many people have gathered today, but no one is seething with hatred for their neighbor or for people of any nationality. We don't have that. Reconciliation is a structure where both sides must reconcile. Do you understand? I see this readiness in Pridnestrovie, but there is none in Moldova. Because their history textbook clearly states that Pridnestrovie and Russia are aggressors: they attacked, killed, and so on. Where is the reconciliation? Reconciliation must be confirmed by something, by some document, at least by some word. If we teach the younger generation this, then what kind of reconciliation can we talk about? That is, the leadership of Moldova today, the elite of Moldova live by aggression, live by the structure that they created in 1992, and are not going to move away from it.
If we talk about history textbooks, we can see cause-and-effect relationships. They do not simply rehabilitate Antonescu as a Nazi criminal. This is the rehabilitation of a person, the one who is guilty of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, the most brutal reprisals, burning alive. It is all Antonescu. He is a positive hero in the history textbook of Moldova. Do you understand? That is, they are deliberately forgetting history, forgetting lessons, naturally, not striving, but risking repeating the evil that was brought by the Romanian occupiers, in particular, to the territory of Pridnestrovie, the territory of the so-called “transnistria”. The Soviet soldier-liberator and the entire Soviet people, who were restoring the destroyed Bessarabia, suddenly all became "drunkards and occupiers" then. And then, it turns out, Pridnestrovie and Russia attacked Moldova. A lie. The entire history textbook is permeated with it. This is already ideology, this is already propaganda.
Therefore, they need to think about what they are doing in general. What they are doing. The fact that they are contradicting the Nuremberg Trials. The fact that they are contradicting even the Romanian legislation, according to which it is impossible, absolutely impossible, to rehabilitate Antonescu and his henchmen. The fact that they call those who restored Moldova, built industrial enterprises, all science, all cities and regions, occupiers, drunkards. We should probably think that they have played too much, played with propaganda, played and got entangled in this lie. They need to move away from this, otherwise they will have no future. I do not even doubt it. This is just a surge of activity. God will not allow a good future with such an approach. Aggression only breeds aggression and anger.
Ekaterina Kopitsa, First Pridnestrovian TV Channel:
Vadim Nikolaevich, every year people come to the memorial, lay flowers, some remember their relatives, their loved ones, their friends, whom they lost. What would you like to wish to all those who are living now thanks to those who gave their lives?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
I want to wish you peace. I communicate with people, with those who have lost loved ones – sons, husbands, brothers, sisters. They say one thing. The sacrifice should not be in vain. This was all done in the name of peace. Pridnestrovian citizens, the defenders of Pridnestrovie fought not for the sake of war, but for the sake of peace. Do you understand the logic? We fought for peace, and there they fought for the sake of war. They are the aggressors. Therefore, I think that the most important thing is to defend peace and preserve it. Those with whom I communicate have one wish – preserving peace for Pridnestrovie.
Alexander Lagutin, RIA News agency:
Vadim Nikolaevich, how do you assess the current situation in the negotiation process? The Bureau of Reintegration constantly makes statements that Tiraspol is blocking meetings of political representatives and sessions of expert groups. What is happening now in the negotiations with Moldova?
The PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky:
Political representatives of Moldova are in the content of information propaganda. I suppose with their leadership naturally. They say absolutely false things. I have always publicly stated that we are for the continuation of the negotiation process. This is primarily the "5 + 2" format and the "1 + 1" meeting. Not political representatives – this is not exactly the "1 + 1" format, but meetings of technical leaders on certain issues. The "1 + 1" format is meetings of the leadership of Pridnestrovie and the leadership of Moldova. Of course, the "5 + 2" format should work. This is the only recognized international platform where all the parties that had a hand in this conflict are present, and even more. Moldova is a categorical opponent of resuming the negotiation process under any pretext. Naturally, the working group in this format does not work at the proper level if there is no "5 + 2" format. This is a consequence. Political representatives of Moldova can say whatever they want, but the ball is in their court. I am saying right now, here, at this memorial, that we are ready for the negotiation process. We are ready to sit down and discuss the problems that exist between Pridnestrovie and Moldova. If you are ready, please sit down, we will continue to talk with you. Let me remind you that the "5+2" format was disrupted by such a political representative as Mr. Shova. It was Shova who disrupted the final signing. This was October 2019. The Moldovan side was given a chance to re-sign in November. Well, and they did not go for it again. It was an intent to disrupt the entire "5+2" format. There was pandemic then, the hostilities in Ukraine then. All this is subjective. There are different platforms, there are offline, there are online, where you can gather and talk, discuss with all parties the issues that are on the agenda in any case. There are questions, but I think the Moldovan side has no answers. They are blocking the entire negotiation process since there are no answers. Naturally, as always: from a sick head to a healthy one, in the style of the best, so to speak, tirades of Goebbels, also a famous propagandist. They are engaged in outright lies. I hope, I say again, for common sense. People will come who will be strong enough to understand what happened, will have the will to continue negotiations and continue the dialogue sooner or later. I do not even doubt it.
