A group of veterans’ organizations are demanding that foreign minister Nicu Popescu resigns after his “treasonous” reference to the 1992 Transnistrian armed conflict as a “civil war” in recent remarks during a visit to Bucharest.
“The War Veterans’ Association 1992 Tiras-Tighina considers Mr. Popescu’s remark to amount to high treason and demands that he quits his job as foreign minister honorably,” said the organization’s president Anatol Caraman during a press conference. He argued that the ceasefire agreement signed in July 1992 between Moldova and Russia was compelling proof that the Nistru had been fought between two countries, with Russia being the aggressor.
Anatolie Bîzgu, president of the Transnistrian Refugees’ Movement, said Popescu’s remark was “outrageous”. “We condemn it and consider it to bring disgrace upon our nation. This is betrayal,” declared Bîzgu.
Alexandru Banari, a retired colonel and president of the Veterans’ Association Justețea, said Popescu had to step down and apologize to the mothers who lost their sons in the Nistru war.
Vasile Costiuc, president of the Democracy at Home Party, told the same press conference that the Government had to revoke minister Popescu because he “offended Nistru war veterans and collective memory.”
Nicolai Rozlovan, vice president of the Veterans’ Association Frăția, said Popescu’s remark was “irresponsible”. “It wasn’t a simple brawl between brothers, it was a war with the involvement of (Russia’s) 14th Army.”
During Monday’s meeting with his Romanian counterpart Teodor Meleșcanu in Bucharest, Nicu Popescu said: “The Government in Chisinau is eager to facilitate, to make life easier for our compatriots who, because of a civil war in 1992, live in the Transnistrian region”.
