Moldovan Lawmaker Calls For Visa Regime With Russia

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2023) Oazu Nantoi, a lawmaker from Moldova's ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), called for a visa regime with Russia.

Nantoi is one of three politicians in Moldova banned from entering Russia amid a diplomatic row.

"For seven years, the number of Moldovan citizens in Russia has decreased four times and, I think, our fellow citizens who continue to be on the territory of the Russian Federation had the opportunity to make a choice. And I do not rule out that in order to ensure national security, the moment will come to think about the introduction of a visa regime with Russia," Nantoi said on Wednesday evening in an interview with TVR Moldova channel.

On Tuesday, Moldova's Ambassador to Russia Lilian Darii was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and a strong protest was expressed to him in connection with Chisinau's unfriendly steps; Moscow also notified the ambassador of the decision to close entry to Russia for a number of Moldovan officials in response to their regular anti-Russian statements.

Last week, Moldova decided to expel a Russian diplomat. The Russian Embassy in Chisinau said that the authorities did not explain the reasons for their decision, but this happened after the head of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, who was traveling to the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia for the Friendship of Peoples congress, was denied entry to Moldova on April 17.