The People's Assembly of Gagauzia has postponed an extraordinary meeting scheduled for today, as representatives of the autonomy's parliament are expected for talks in Chisinau, IPN reports.

According to a press release from the People's Assembly, the discussions will center on the criminal proceedings initiated in reaction to the autonomy's decision to hold a referendum, and on the summoning of Assembly members to the Ministry of the Interior for hearings in this connection.

In November last year, the People's Assembly decided to hold a consultative referendum on the country's foreign course and a simultaneous, legislative referendum that would allow the people of Gagauzia to exercise its “right to external self-determination” should Moldova lose its status of an independent state.

The Prosecutor General's Office has initiated criminal proceedings on charges of “arbitrary action” in response to the decision to carry on and hold the referenda in disregard of a court ruling that had found them as falling outside the local parliament's authority.