In Moldova, the minister got into a scandal over the civil war
In Moldova, a scandal erupted around the statement of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicolae Popescu, who called the Transnistrian conflict of 1992 a civil war.
“The Government of Moldova is interested in making life easier for our fellow citizens who, as a result of the 1992 civil war, live in the Transnistrian region. The consequences of this war must be overcome through dialogue, openness and small steps that improve the lives of people on both banks of the Dniester,” Popescu said at a press conference in Bucharest.
The minister was severely criticized for this statement. And not from the opposition, but from comrades in the pro-European bloc ACUM.
Moldovan MP Lilian Karp wrote in his blog that “no matter what anyone says now, in 1992 there was an act of undermining the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova by the Russian Federation.”
Another deputy, Maria Ciobanu, wrote on Facebook that because of what was said, Popescu “doesn’t know where to go from shame” and asked “not to play with words.”
The minister was supported by Moldovan President Igor Dodon, whose Socialist Party formed a ruling coalition with ACUM and created a government.
“This is a balanced position, this is how the Minister of Foreign Affairs should have it,” Dodon told reporters today.
Hounded by his colleagues, Popescu was forced today to apologize for a “not entirely successful phrase,” the use of which he called “a mistake that he regrets.”
“We know that in 1992 the Russian army took actions hostile to the interests of Chisinau. This is an established, verified and confirmed historical fact - both in domestic legislation and at the international level, including by the European Court of Human Rights,” Popescu said.
At the same time, the minister repeated that in 1992, “some citizens of the Republic of Moldova were in a state of armed conflict with other citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” risking a new barrage of criticism.
A native of Moldova, Popescu was educated in Budapest, worked in London and Paris, and considers himself a European. For many years he served as a senior analyst at the Institute for Security Studies of the European Union, specializing in EU relations with Russia and post-Soviet countries.
Moldovan Minister Embroiled in Civil War Scandal