Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s decision to recognize the occupation of the Transnistrian region by Russia and to exclude Russia from the Council of Europe is a political opinion formulated in a declaration that refers primarily to the situation in Ukraine, IPN reports.

“On behalf of the executive, I can reiterate that the Republic of Moldova will continue to look for solutions to the reunification of the country by dialogue and by negotiations as this is the only way for making headway in achieving this objective of our country. Evidently, we insist on the necessity of withdrawing the Russian troops from the territory of the Republic of Moldova,” Nicu Popescu stated in a news conference.

He noted that Moldova is a neutral state and the status of neutrality means that the country should not become involved in a military conflict on the part of one of the conflicting sides, but it does not imply indifference to the refugees and absence of calls to obey the international law. Moldova condemns the war waged by Russia against Ukraine.

PACE decided to exclude Russia from the Council of Europe and by an amendment recognized Russia’s act of military aggression against the Republic of Moldova and respectively the occupation of its Transnistrian region.