Vadim Vieru: The Tiraspol protest was organized by coercion to hide the failure of the separatist regime

The protest organized by the separatist administration in Tiraspol was a forced mobilization of the population, aimed at hiding the economic problems of the region and creating the impression of popular support for the regime. The statement belongs to the director of the Human Rights Program within Promo-LEX, lawyer Vadim Vieru, who claims that the accusations regarding an alleged economic blockade imposed by Chisinau are contradicted by the figures. According to him, in September, the constitutional authorities collected 2,1 million lei from taxes paid by economic agents from the left bank of the Nistru River, while 75% of the region's exports are directed towards the European Union.

On the UNU TV show "In essence," Vadim Vieru stated that the Tiraspol demonstration cannot be considered a free exercise of the right to assembly. He argued that civil servants and other categories of employees dependent on the separatist administration were forced to participate, while individuals who would try to organize independent protests in the same square would risk being arrested and convicted.

"When we talk about the Transnistrian region, we cannot talk about freedom of assembly and the exercise of this right, because, under other conditions, anyone who would want to protest in the same square where those people came out today and were brought and forced will be arrested and will have a criminal record and, most likely, will be sentenced to imprisonment in a penitentiary, in the so-called penitentiary in the Transnistrian region.

I agree with the position of the Reintegration Office. What happened today is truly a spectacle, a simulation of a meeting, because all the people who participated there were brought there by force, either by coercion. And obviously, most of those who participated there are the so-called civil servants from the Transnistrian region, who are in a very strict dependence on the Tiraspol regime and the Tiraspol administration.”

The lawyer believes that the separatist administration is trying to shift responsibility for the inability to fulfill its obligations to the region's residents onto Chisinau. In his opinion, the economic arguments invoked by Tiraspol do not justify the scale of the accusations launched against the constitutional authorities.

In this regard, Vieru presented data on taxes collected by Chisinau and on the destination of exports from enterprises on the left bank of the Nistru River.

"What Tiraspol is doing now is that it wants to mask a failure, a failure that is becoming increasingly pressing for the Tiraspol administration, namely the inability to face several obligations that they would have towards the population, including social ones and not only. And, at the same time, these supposed reasons, supposed rhetorical indications that Tiraspol has in relation to Chisinau, that it would be an economic blockade, can be very easily combated through numbers.

On the contrary, Chisinau is trying to bring everything into a legal framework, but, if we talk about numbers, in September alone, two million and one hundred thousand lei have been collected from economic agents on the left bank of the Nistru River as taxes. Can we, under these conditions, talk about two million and one hundred thousand lei as an amount that could have an impact even on this administration in Tiraspol? I think not. On the contrary, I would expect, as a citizen, that much larger amounts would be collected, because there is a much more efficient fiscal administration capacity in relation to the left bank of the Nistru River.

Likewise, seventy-five percent of the exports that economic agents from the Transnistrian region are now making, including the same Sheriff, who had an important role in organizing this march, if we can say so, are exporting to European Union countries. Seventy-five percent are exporting to European Union countries.”

In the opinion of the Promo-LEX representative, the dissatisfaction of the region's residents should rather be directed against the Russian Federation, which they consider responsible for the political and economic situation on the left bank of the Dniester.

"Rather, it was logical that this protest, after all, should be organized, if it was to be with common sense and true intentions, and motivated in relation to the Russian Federation, because the only entity, the only state that is currently creating problems for the citizens of the left bank of the Nistru River is not the Republic of Moldova, but the Russian Federation, which occupied this territory, which has a leader established de facto there, which has an occupation army and because of which the citizens of the left bank of the Nistru River are in the situation they are in."

Asked about the purpose of the demonstration and whether it could be a message not only to Chisinau, but also to Moscow or the international community, Vadim Vieru said that the separatist administration is trying to demonstrate that it still has the support of the population. He also cited the low turnout in the last elections organized by the separatist regime, claiming that in many constituencies there was only one candidate and voter turnout was 15–20%.

"Yes, the realities at the moment are different and even if the Russian Federation, in quotes, would like to save the citizens on the left bank of the Nistru River, who certainly do not need to be saved by the Russian Federation and I think they will pray that it does not come to save them, the motivation for organizing such an action is probably to show the diplomats in Chisinau how much the Republic of Moldova is blocking us. But I think the diplomats in Chisinau know very well what the situation is on the left bank of the Nistru River.

The second goal is to show Chisinau an alleged popular support. It is just that it is very well known what the popular support of this administration on the left bank of the Dniester is in reality. We must know that in the last elections, the so-called parliamentary elections that took place in the Transnistrian region, there were many constituencies in which there was only one candidate, only one, and the participation rate was fifteen, twenty percent. Basically, it was the lowest turnout rate in the entire history of organizing the so-called elections in the Transnistrian region.

"Therefore, the Tiraspol administration understands that it is losing popular support in the Transnistrian region. No one believes in them anymore and, respectively, it is an action dedicated including, why not, to diplomats and other international organizations, the diplomatic environment, the authorities in Chisinau, to try to demonstrate that they still have popular support in the Transnistrian region, but also a classic action to mobilize the population by identifying an alleged enemy, in this case," the lawyer pointed out. 

We remind you that the protest in Tiraspol was organized by the separatist administration amid dissatisfaction with the application of fiscal and customs measures by Chisinau. The participants demanded the elimination of certain taxes and excise duties, the abandonment of VAT collection, and the resumption of negotiations in the 5+2 format. According to regional press reports, approximately 43.000 people participated in the demonstration. However, civic activist Ghenadie Ciorbă disputed this figure, estimating the attendance at approximately 5.000 people.

Reintegration Policy Office qualified the demonstration as a political spectacle organized by the separatist administration and contested the voluntary nature of participation.