Chisinau, December 22 (Infotag). Ravnopraviye [“Equal Rights”] socio-political movement has demanded from the Moldovan authorities to “stop the totally unfounded attacks against the Russian Federation leadership”.

Movement leader Valery Klimenko stated at a news conference in Infotag today, “Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, through his Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Stratan, accused Russia of military occupation of Moldova”. Mr. Klimenko regarded that accusation as unfair and ridiculous from the point of view of the international law. In his words, the international law reads that a military occupation is a temporary occupation of enemy territory by foreign armed forces, “whereas Russia has never regarded Transnistria as an enemy territory”.

“Russian troops have been present in Transnistria last 200 years, except during the Nazi military occupation in 1941-1944. At the moment when Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union [in 1991], the Russian troops were deployed in Transnistria on absolutely legal terms, so they could not make whatever actions of occupational character. You cannot occupy your own territory, can you?” he questioned.

Valery Klimenko presumes the Chisinau Communist authorities needed that demarche by Minister Stratan in order to put on Moscow the entire responsibility for Chisinau’s own dilettantism and inability to fulfill the Communist electoral pledge to resolve the Transnistrian problem.

“We cannot sit and just watch how President Voronin is working to drive in a wedge of mistrust and hostility between the peoples of Moldova and Russia. Citizens of the long-suffering Republic of Moldova have to know: the Transnistrian knot is being further tied up exactly by President Voronin, and attempts to untie it are being made exactly by Moscow”, stated Valery Klimenko.

“The responsibility for aggravation of Moldova-Russia relations is entirely on Voronin who, jointly with radical nationalist Iurie Rosca, has unfolded a new anti-Russia campaign in this republic”, said the Ravnopraviye leader.

Valery Klimenko really shocked the room by claiming that Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin is a citizen of the Russian Federation. On behalf of his Movement, Klimenko called upon the Russian Government to deprive Voronin of that citizenship.

Infotag contacted Presidential Press Secretary Natalia Visanu and asked her to prove or refute the statement that the Republic of Moldova is headed by a foreign citizen. The Secretary only said evasively, “We are not commenting this statement…”