Moldovan authorities remove Abkhazian delegation from flight; Sukhumi protests
SUKHUMI. Sept 7 (Interfax) - The Abkhazian foreign ministry has expressed protest over Moldova's actions towards an Abkhazian official delegation which attended festivities on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic.
"The Moldovan authorities removed from a flight an official delegation of the Republic of Abkhazia," the ministry said in a statement released in Sukhumi on Monday.
"Moldovan security officers spoke to the delegation members, trying to exert psychological pressure on the arrested officials," the ministry said.
"The Abkhazian foreign ministry expresses its resolute protest to Moldova, seeing its actions towards the top Abkhazian officials as unacceptable and discriminatory, and calls on the international community and international mediators in the Moldovan-Transdniestrian conflict resolution process to give an objective assessment of these events and exert influence so as to prevent such provocations by Moldova in the future," the statement reads.
The Abkhazian official delegation, led by vice president Vitaly Gabniya, attended the festivities in Tiraspol marking the 25th anniversary since the foundation of the Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic.
"The day before the festival Transdniestria's foreign minister Nina Shtanski met with Moldova's representative Viktor Osipov in charge of political issues in the Transdniestrian peace process, where Viktor Osipov confirmed Moldova's consent to allow all delegations heading to Transdniestria to travel to and out of Moldova unhindered," the Abkhazian foreign ministry said.
"However, having grossly violated its own promises and agreements, Moldova undertook a number of provocative and unfriendly measures with respect to the delegations from the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia," the document says.
The Moldovan authorities claim that the reason for such actions on their part was the fact that by attending the festivities, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the foundation of Transdniestria, the Abkhazian and South Ossetian delegations ostensibly jeopardized Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Abkhazian foreign ministry said.
"The Moldovan authorities, which maintain close relations with Georgia, are demonstrating a policy identical to Georgia's aimed at isolating and discriminating against our neighbors and their citizens. The aforesaid provocative actions by Moldova run counter to the universal right of the freedom of movement," the statement says.
The ministry reminded the Moldovan authorities that quite a lot of Moldovans "travel to Abkhazia each year in search of an opportunity to earn a living for their families back in their home country, who are in an extremely difficult financial situation."
"They are not being discriminated against or restricted in their freedom to move around the republic," the Abkhazian ministry said.
