Moldovan authorities will not allow Vladimir Putin to visit the country, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean said in an interview with TV8. As “Kommersant” reported on April 28, according to him, Moldova has a whole list of Russians banned from entering the country.
Recean said: “We have a list of Russian officials who are banned from entering Moldova. This list is not published. Some people find out about the ban when they arrive, others already know”.
Prime Minister refused to say who is on the list. When asked by a journalist about the possibility of Putin visiting the republic, he replied: “No”.
On April 17, Moldovan border guards barred Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov from entering the republic. He was on his way to the international congress of people’s diplomacy “Friendship of Peoples” in the southern region of Gagauzia (populated by the Turkic Orthodox people). Ivan Yegorov, the head of the “Ak-Bars” holding company, was flying with him and was also not allowed into the republic.
A “Kommersant” interlocutor in Moldovan government agencies said that Minnikhanov was denied entry because he could not justify the purpose of his visit.
On April 19, Moldova declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata. On April 25, Russia expelled an employee from the republic’s embassy and denied entry to several of its politicians. The Moldovan consul to Russia was declared persona non grata.
