The communication of the PMR President Vadim Krasnoselsky with the press after the flower-laying ceremony at the Bendery Memorial of Memory and Sorrow has become a tradition. The PMR President was asked how he felt about the statements that the conflict was in the past, it was time to forget and forgive.
“Perhaps those who are not in the subject, they voice just such a position. Forgiveness is necessary, of course. Nobody doubts it. It's Christianly. But I would like to recall some facts – how it all began. It is not enough just saying that everything is fine. The conflict began in 1989-1990 with an attempt to destroy the Russian language, Russian culture, Russian and Ukrainian identity here, to impose only the Moldovan language, Romanian more precisely. Of course, the people living in this territory were not only amazed, but shocked by this decision. The Pridnestrovian leadership, the Pridnestrovian people demanded little - give us Russian as the language of interethnic communication, as the second state language. Please give us autonomy. No, we were not heard. On August 27, 1991, the Moldavian parliament made a murderous decision to destroy the Moldavian SSR. The Moldovan parliament, and those who stood behind it, went not only along the path of leaving the Soviet Union, they left the Moldavian SSR. They, in fact, destroyed a single republic within the boundaries of the MSSR. Then there was an armed confrontation, provocations of various kinds. After that there was not only an attempt to take away the language, civil liberties and the rights of the local population were taken away.
The active phase of hostilities began on March 1-2, 1992, invasion of the city of Bendery on the 19th of June. I want to remind you, again to outline a couple of facts that preceded this. There was a negotiation process, and literally two or three days before the invasion of the city of Bendery, the Moldovan parliament decided on an exclusively peaceful solution to the Pridnestrovian issue. Then our Pridnestrovian posts were removed from the roads, the city was released, opened. The invasion took place two days later. How can you trust and forgive?
I would like to focus on the actions of the so-called international observers. Now the desire to exchange Russian peacekeepers for so-called observers is very topical, informationally promoted. So, these observers fled like mice, they also needed to be rescued. They did not bother to make at least a small account even after the fighting about how it all began. They got scared and ran away. Such is the value of these international observers.
Then there was a massacre for 40 days. The defenders of Pridnestrovie, civilians, children died. The Russian peacemaker stopped this, preventing the war from spreading further on the banks of the Dniester. The Russian peacekeeper did it. We can forget it, not to talk about it, not mention it, and so on.
Not a single country of the so-called democratic Europe has condemned the actions of the Moldovan authorities to invade the city of Bendery, to use force against the civilian population, to kill civilians. Today there is a very interesting parallel. The European Parliament votes to recognize the Pridnestrovian territory as occupied by the Russian Federation, and the Russian Federation as an occupier, an aggressor. The entire Moldovan delegation votes 100% for this decision. That is, the aggressor who killed people here votes to recognize those who stopped the war as the aggressor. It's worth thinking about.
There are many strange things in the actions of the Moldovan authorities. The war ended with the signing of a peace agreement in July 1992. Signed by Moldova and the Russian Federation, while Moldova recognizing Russia as an aggressor, did not withdraw from this agreement. How so? These two solutions contradict each other, in my opinion. You have to follow one or the other. Moldova manages to do everything – not to recognize the attacks, honor the killers, not withdraw from the agreement, at the same time recognize Russia as aggressor. Very comfortably, do you understand?
Then there was a difficult negotiation process. More than two hundred different agreements have appeared between Pridnestrovie and Moldova, which Moldova does not fulfill and does not seek to fulfill. There is a stagnation in the work of the “5 + 2” format, various economic blockades, and so on.
Probably the most terrible thing for understanding the word “forgive” is the lack of repentance. I do not see repentance for what they have done on the part of Moldova. This is first. I do not see a legal assessment of what happened. This is second. The murderers who killed civilians here, and those who sent them here, to Pridnestrovie, in fact to be killed, they did not answer before the law, this is not the case. I think they will answer sooner or later before the God. Moldova honors the occupiers as liberators of the united and indivisible until now. This is nonsense and bluff. Moldova itself destroyed a single state and sent people to be slaughtered. No repentance, no awareness, therefore no forgiveness. That's all.
Every state has its heroes. In Moldova - those who killed, in our country - those who defended. They honor their heroes, we honor our heroes. What is happening today suggests that they are still suffering from revanchism and they would not mind bringing the so-called constitutional order here by force probably. I wouldn't recommend even thinking about it. We are a peaceful state, we are not aggressors, we are not occupiers, but we can stand up for ourselves and repel any aggression. One must reason soberly, be wise, follow the path of peace under these conditions. What Moldova is doing, resuscitating that aggression and remembering it, is not the way to peace, definitely not to peace,” Vadim Krasnoselsky considers.
Answering the question of journalists about the risk of escalation of the conflict, the President of the PMR emphasized that he would not evaluate the arguments of Moldovan politicians on this matter. “It is difficult for me to judge how Moldovan politicians argue. Of course, there is always a risk. The risk has existed throughout the 30-year history since the end of hostilities. Today, when everything around is restless, the risk exists. Naturally, no matter how difficult it is, we should talk about peace, and not about the war in Pridnestrovie. An escalation of the conflict would be fatal not only for Pridnestrovie, but also for its neighbors, and even for those who are behind the neighbors. This is a dangerous topic of conversation. I think that Moldovan politicians should do everything to have a zero mark on a ten-point scale regarding the possibility of resuming a military conflict here.
We are ready for dialogue. The 5+2 format does not work now, but there is a 1+1 format. We are ready to talk, talk about the peace. It is necessary to remove all kinds of obstacles in our relations in order to talk about peace. It is wonderful that there are family ties, people move from republic to republic without problems, there are no questions. We must think about the economy, about economic entities, about banking relations, about the Ministry of Health, about telecommunications, about everything. There are no issues that exist in the "5 + 2" format, and which the Moldovan side will fully resolve. I don't think all is lost".
The PMR President was asked about the threat posed by weapons supplied to Moldova from abroad in the context of the geopolitical events taking place along the perimeter of Pridnestrovie. “If we talk pragmatically, we can say that it is unlikely to threaten us right now, but in the future, if militarization continues to increase, of course, this will be a great threat. Any militarization ends in a war. This is shown by the history of other conflicts in the territory of the post-Soviet space. I am categorically against the militarization of Moldova. If there are sane people there, they should understand what they are doing and that they are leading to war by their actions. The militarization of a neighboring state is the path to war, but not to peace in the end,” Vadim Krasnoselsky considers.
Representatives of the mass media did not bypass the topic of peacekeeping on the Dniester, the significance of the mission and the prospects for its preservation in the existing realities. “Of course, Russian peacekeepers annoy many people. Russian peacekeepers in Pridnestrovie are a success story. Someone is interested in creating a history of tragedy. They will not succeed here, in Pridnestrovie. We remember, honor and are grateful to the Russian peacekeepers, which stopped the bloodshed here. Why success, because there is only one people here. There are multinational people in Pridnestrovie, consisting of Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, people of other nationalities. Russia is also multinational. The interweaving of peoples is obvious, we do not contradict each other genetically, we are very close to each other. This is the reason for success. If there were some incomprehensible structures here, missions of an incomprehensible kind, as it was in 1992, there would be no success. Maybe even a repeat of 1992 would happen. The Russian peacekeeper is the guarantee of peace on this land, including today,” the PMR President voiced his opinion.
