Krasnoselsky on EU Accession Referendum: We Would Give People a Chance to Vote

The head of the unrecognized Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky, has commented on Moldova’s refusal to open polling stations in Transnistria to vote in the referendum. “If Moldova had approached us about a referendum on its attitude towards the European Union, we would have considered the issue and given our people a chance to speak out. But since this did not happen, it is their (Chisinau’s) choice,” Krasnoselsky said. As Vadim Krasnoselsky noted, it is difficult to comment on the reasons for Chisinau’s refusal, but in any case, Moldova knows that Transnistria has held seven referendums on significant political and economic issues, and the people have always actively expressed their opinion. “Only the people have the right to change the development thrust of statehood in Transnistria. And all the people of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic at any referendum can do it. Only the people. Thus, not people of a separate nationality, a separate citizenship, a separate creed, the whole nation,” Krasnoselsky said. Earlier, the Political Bureau for Reintegration called Tiraspol’s comment “manipulative” and carried out at the “behest of external forces”. 30 polling stations will be opened for Moldovan citizens from the left bank within the security zone, in localities controlled by the constitutional authorities, while the opening of polling stations in uncontrolled areas, where “there are no guarantees for the security of the process and there is no certainty that there will be no external interference that could affect the results”, is contrary to legal provisions. In this regard, the Bureau calls on Tiraspol to refrain from any actions preventing the holding of the 20 October elections and referendum, as well as from any attempts to interfere, either directly or indirectly, in the electoral process.