Protest to Russian Ambassador over Polling Stations in Transnistria. What Was Vasnetsov’s Comment?

The Moldovan Foreign Ministry protested to the Russian ambassador in Chisinau, Oleg Vasnetsov, over the opening of polling stations for the Russian presidential election in the Transnistrian region. The ministry said that such actions undermined Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Vasnetsov explained that Moscow, together with Tiraspol, had decided to open “several polling stations” in the Transnistrian region in order to ensure the “inalienable right of all citizens” to express their will, which is enshrined in the Russian Constitution and other normative acts. “Dissatisfaction and protest over these actions (opening of polling stations in the Transnistrian region) were expressed today at the Moldovan Foreign Ministry,” Vasnetsov said. According to him, the Russian authorities received a large number of appeals with requests to ensure the possibility to participate in the Russian presidential election on Moldova’s territory. “The Central Election Commission and the Russian Foreign Ministry decided together with the Transnistrian administration that several polling stations will be opened. Of course, not in such a number as it was in 2021, when about 30 polling stations were opened, 27 of them in Transnistria,” Vasnetsov said, without specifying the exact number of polling stations planned to be opened in the region. On 12 March, the Russian ambassador to Moldova arrived at the Foreign Ministry, where he was summoned for explanations regarding the opening of polling stations for the Russian presidential election in the Transnistrian region without Chisinau’s approval. Only one polling station will be officially opened in Moldova for the Russian presidential election. It will be located on the territory of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau. In November 2023, Moscow requested Chisinau to open polling stations for voting in the Russian presidential election. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that it would study the issue and respond within a reasonable timeframe. In 2018, 27 polling stations opened in Moldova to vote in the Russian presidential election. At the same time, only three of them were on the territory controlled by Chisinau. The other 24 opened in the Transnistrian region without the approval of the constitutional authorities. Promo-LEX called this “a serious violation of international law”. The Russian presidential elections will be held in the spring over three days, from 15 to 17 March. This is the first three-day presidential election in the country’s history.