The governing coalition should have asked the people about their options regarding the country's foreign policy and this would have reduced the current tensions. The opinion was voiced by Communist MP Artur Resetnicov, who commented on the decision of the People's Assembly of the Gagauzia Autonomous Territorial Unit to hold a referendum on the course of the country's foreign policy. On the other hand, the head of Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group Valeriu Strelet said that the situation in Gagauzia was being examined by the governing coalition, while Democrat MP Dumitru Diacov thinks there are political forces from Chisinau that fuel the drifts in Gagauzia, IPN reports.

The majority in the People's Assembly of Gagauzia does not belong to the Communists, but to the Democrats and the Liberal-Democrats. Unfortunately, this is an artificial aggravation of the situation because of poor governance from Chisinau. When Chisinau decides on the foreign policy, it should consult with the people”, Communist MP Artur Resetnicov said at a talk-show on ProTV.

Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Strelet stated that the situation in Gagauzia was carefully monitored and that soon, both his party and the governing coalition as a whole would take steps to ameliorate the situation.

Democrat parliamentarian Dumitru Diacov called for calm in dealing with the situation. “Local referenda must deal with local issues and cannot put pressure on the country as a whole. I talked to people in the region and we can reach mutual understanding. There are parties in Chisinau that encourage them”, he said.

The People's Assembly of Gagauzia decided to organize a consultative referendum on the foreign policy orientation of the country. Later, the decision was ruled illegal by the Comrat Court. Nonetheless, the autonomous region's administration decided to carry on and hold the referendum as planned, on February 2.