Moscow wants to promote a loyal candidate to the presidency of the Republic of Moldova and thus sent Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to ensure stability in Transnistria, former acting director of the Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) Valentin Dediu stated in the talk show “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.
“Rogozin had a very calm behavior in Chisinau. This visit didn’t pursue the goal of strengthening the relations between Moscow and Chisinau. The main goal of Rogozin was to visit Transnistria, where the deputies of the supreme soviet and the leader of the unrecognized republic Yevgheny Shevchuk are engaged in a life-and-death conflict. Shevchuk is not accepted by the Kremlin, especially because he was involved in the appropriation of funds donated by the Russian Federation. Shevchuk does not have chances to win a new term in office. Such a situation does not suit Moscow. Its goal is to ensure stability in the area, but this autumn’s presidential elections in Moldova are its key objective,” stated Dediu.
He also said that while in Tiraspol, Dmitri Rogozin had two meetings with Transnistrian officials. “The first meeting was a public one, where he assured that Russia will continue to support Transnistria. The second meeting was held behind closed doors and there the Russian Deputy Prime Minister spoke harshly to the Transnistrian officials,” said the former SIS official.
According to Dediu, the Kremlin needs stability in the area so as to be able to concentrate all its efforts on promoting the Kremlin’s candidate in the presidential elections in Moldova. “Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov also insisted on the resumption of the talks in the 5+2 format so as to give the impression that Russia is interested in stability in the area and to divert attention from the pursued goal – to support a candidate loyal to Moscow in the presidential elections,” he stated.
