Russian President Putin's Speech: Focus on Transnistrian Region
In his address today, Russian President Vladimir Putin may also touch upon the Transnistrian region, but not in the context of recognizing the region's independence, stated Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebrian in an interview for Euronews Romania.
The official emphasised that the so-called resolution through which the Transnistrian region seeks help from Russian deputies is actually an operation to mask the problems that the regime in Tiraspol has regarding the citizens of the region.
"I don't think he will say this annexation of Transnistria, nor was it requested, and anyway, we were quite calm when these speculations arose. We tried to calm both public opinion and the international press in Romania as well. Perhaps these alarmist messages were more interesting. It is very possible that Putin will mention among other things the Transnistrian region. I do not exclude this. It is very possible that he, as recently done by Sergey Lavrov, will mention the 200,000 Russian citizens in the Transnistrian region. 90% of the residents of the Transnistrian region are citizens of the Republic of Moldova. In the Transnistrian region, as in the entire territory, multiple citizenship is allowed. There are very many citizens of the Russian Federation, Polish citizens, fewer Bulgarians, Romanian citizens. Romanian citizens could be up to 10,000," added the Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver a speech before the Federal Assembly starting at 11 o'clock. The President's speech in this format will be the 29th in modern Russian history and the 19th for Putin, according to TASS.
On Wednesday, February 28, at the so-called Congress of Deputies, Tiraspol requested the State Duma of Russia to defend the Transnistrian region from what it calls "increasing pressure from the Republic of Moldova." Experts argue that the request is addressed only to the deputies of the State Duma of Russia and that the Transnistrian region is aware of the consequences of ill-considered actions. The authorities in Chisinau have described the statements made by Tiraspol as propagandistic.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
