The Deputy Prime Minister, Cristina Lesnic, launched a public appeal for lifting movement barriers for the Security Zone residents

The Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration, Cristina Lesnic, had a discussion today with the representatives of several NGOs concerned by the Transnistrian problem, including Promo-LEX, La Strada, the Institute for Strategic Initiatives (IPIS), the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), CREDO, as well as the EU High-Level Adviser, Kalman Mizsei. The discussion focused on the COVID-19 pandemic current situation in the Security Zone and the measures applied in the state of emergency.

The Deputy Prime Minister explained the mechanism for collecting biological samples and conducting COVID-19 tests in the laboratory of the National Agency for Public Health from Chisinau. Therewith, she presented the measures applied by Chisinau regarding the economic agents from the Transnistrian region, after cessation of movement through some border crossing points, to provide the residents in the region with food and medicines.

The human rights dimension was also discussed, in particular restriction of doctors’ access in the region and identification of possible solutions. The NGOs representatives agreed that an immediate solution and cooperation of the negotiating partners in this area is essential. 

At the same time, there was an exchange of views regarding the interaction between Chisinau and Tiraspol under the emergency conditions, the problem of free movement in localities, doctors’ access to the Security Zone settlements, and the situation of personnel from schools teaching in Romanian, located on the left bank of Nistru. 

The situation of control posts on the Cocieri plateau, installed by the Transnistrian side, was also tackled. The Deputy Prime Minister, Cristina Lesnic, invited Promo-LEX to monitor the situation, assist in solving the problems on the Cocieri plateau, and regularly exchange information and solutions.

The representatives of non-governmental organizations were invited to provide their expertise and support to identify new solutions that could be implemented to manage crisis situations in the region, including through partnerships with local NGOs from Transnistria. 

The Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration made a public appeal to unblock the situation in the Security Zone. "In extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary solutions are needed", said Cristina Lesnic.

The representatives of non-governmental organizations formulated several ideas that can be examined, such as regularly testing doctors to prevent theirs and population’s infections, accommodating physicians on the right bank, ensuring their presence in the Security Zone settlements, applying other WHO recommendations, etc. Some NGOs stated that they will send additional suggestions.