"The gap between will and inertia." Experts talk about the problem of exchanging Russian foreign passports in the PMR
Experts - participants in the round table on Moldova and Transnistria, held on the RuBaltic.Ru platform, discussed the problem with the protracted exchange of foreign passports of Russian citizens living in Transnistria.
According to Sergei Markedonov, a leading researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the problem has not been resolved for a long time, since there is “a gap between political will and bureaucratic inertia.”
“In the LDPR, for obvious reasons, such a gap was quickly eliminated; the intermediate solution there was the recognition of the passports of the republics (there was no such formula in Transnistria),” he recalled.
According to the expert, officials “do not understand or do not want to understand, they are creating red tape.”
“Often, when I was in Tiraspol, I heard people with Moldovan or Ukrainian passports talking not only about their readiness to receive a Russian passport, but also to serve in the Russian army, but they came across such a palisade of bureaucratic inflexibility or elephantiasis, to use the words of Mayakovsky. The problem exists - there is no support from officials in resolving strategic issues, the game is being played the old fashioned way,” Markedonov said.
Director of the Tiraspol Institute of Socio-Political Research and Regional Development Igor Shornikov said that the problem affected a significant part of the 230 thousand Pridnestrovians who have Russian citizenship.
The expert believes that this is not only due to the sluggishness of officials, but also the hope of Russian diplomats, without irritating Chisinau, “to preserve the remnants of normal relations with it.”
There is also a technical problem here - now it is difficult to bring passport forms to Moldova by diplomatic post, says Shornikov. At the same time, he believes that, given the resonance that has already occurred, the situation will soon move forward.
“I think the problem will be resolved this year,” he said.
Let us remind you that difficulties with the exchange of passports arose in 2020. The exit consular post of the Russian Embassy in Tiraspol did not work for about a year due to the pandemic, which resulted in a giant queue for the exchange of expired documents. Only a few Pridnestrovians have internal Russian passports, and it is by virtue of being a “foreigner” that people here receive a Russian pension and go to Russian elections.
During the pandemic downtime at the consulate, thousands of people's Russian passports expired - exactly five years ago, in 2015, there was one of the peaks of acceptance of Russian citizenship, at the same time people had the opportunity to switch to Russian pensions. Without foreign passports, Pridnestrovian Russians cannot travel anywhere, including on urgent matters.
Registration for the exchange of foreign passports is only electronic. The Internet page of the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Moldova is attacked daily by a lot of people, the system is malfunctioning. They share their experiences on social networks: what technical tricks to use and what time of day is best to visit the site in order to get a coveted place in the online queue. Volunteers even came to the rescue and tried to sign up at least the elderly who did not have the Internet or close relatives who could help.
United Russia deputies and the Russian Foreign Ministry promised the Pridnestrovians to resolve the issue of “clearing the rubble with passports.”
English version :: Read in English: "The Gap Between Will and Inertia." Experts on the Problem of Exchanging Russian Passports in the PMR