Leader of the Dniester self-proclaimed republic Igor Smirnov warned to introduce a visa regime for Moldovan citizens, if the Moldovan authorities continue to confiscate foreign travel passports from Dniester residents, the Dniester presidential press service quoted Smirnov as saying at a meeting with Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Charalampos Christopoulos in Tiraspol here on Tuesday.
According to Smirnov, the Moldovan police demand a residence permit for traveling in Moldova from Dniester residents with the citizenship of Russia and Ukraine, and if they do not have the residence permit the police confiscate their passports and bring them to administrative responsibility. "I warn that in retaliation we will introduce a visa regime for Moldovan citizens. I agree that it is nonsense. But what can we do?" Smirnov said.
During the meeting the interlocutors discussed the cooperation in the settlement of the relations between the Moldovan authorities and Tiraspol. According to Smirnov, no tangible progress was made in this issue that was mainly caused by the political instability in Moldova, but some positive shifts are obvious. Smirnov believes that currently the negotiations have no alternative, "but the negotiations for the sake of negotiations do not solve any problems." "The guarantees are needed that all agreements will really work," Smirnov said. (Itar-Tass)
