Ukrainian member of the Parliament Oleh Dunda believes the separatist power in the Transnistrian region is on the verge of economic collapse and could be replaced. There is an opportunity for the government in Chisinau to take direct control of the Transnistrian region, but not by military means, but through justice, says the member of the Kyiv Rada.
"The real crisis is that the current regime in Transnistria has gone bankrupt and is unable to function," Ukrainian member of the Parliament Oleh Dunda told Moldova 1. Moreover, he believes that the regime can be replaced without Russia intervening because Moscow would be unable to do so.
"In this situation, there is only one solution. In conditions of force majeure, in conditions of the incapacity and illegitimacy of the Transnistrian regime, the Republic of Moldova and Chisinau must take responsibility for the replacement of this regime, introduce direct administration and control over the region, and take the fate of the citizens there," the Ukrainian member of the Parliament said.
Oleh Dunda would like the executive, together with the European Union and Ukraine, to ensure the supply of all necessary resources - energy and other vital products. He believes the Tiraspol regime must be removed urgently and forcibly by Chisinau.
"They must be arrested and put on trial because they have effectively used Transnistrian citizens as hostages. They acted like terrorists. Basically, they can be tried for treason, because they acted in the interests of another state, of the Moscow leadership. In this case, they used their region as a big concentration camp in Moscow's favor," explains the Kiev official.
More than 50,000 households and almost 1,500 residential blocks were left without gas and heating. Schools and kindergartens have been closed. The alternatives to gas heating - and Transnistria was 97% gassed - were wood and electricity. The Tiraspol regime refused the government's proposed aid for the population and the offer to buy gas from Energocom. Although a humanitarian crisis is looming, Oleh Dunda believes that the problem is not energy but political.
"I strongly disagree that it is a humanitarian crisis. It is a political crisis. It is a crisis that is not based on the simple fact that Russia has refused to supply gas to the Transnistrian region and is basically committing an act of aggression against the Republic of Moldova. [...] Russia has gone all or nothing. Any attempt to find a compromise will lead to the capitulation of Chisinau. This is not a question of the energy market, but an attempt to wrest independence from Chisinau, using the Transnistrian enclave and its population as hostages," the Ukrainian parliamentarian added.
