Nicu Popescu: The Republic of Moldova is preparing a list of 25 people who will be sanctioned for violating human rights in Ukraine
The Republic of Moldova started to gradually join the sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Russian Federation for aggression against Ukraine and will sanction more Russian citizens "in a few weeks", announced the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, in an interview with Radio Free Europe.
"It is predominantly about travel bans, the freezing of bank accounts or assets of individuals who are involved in the aggression against Ukraine," declared Popescu. According to the minister, the decision has been made, but it will take some time until "all the legal steps" are completed. He did not name the individuals who will be banned from entering the Republic of Moldova, but said that the list will include "about 25 people" and that "about half" are Russian citizens. Popescu spoke to Free Europe against the background of anti-government protests in Chisinau organized by the Shor Party and allies of the pro-Russian formation, which the authorities believe are acting on the instructions of the Kremlin to destabilize the Republic of Moldova. Minister Popescu told Free Europe that the EU asked the Republic of Moldova "two weeks ago", i.e. in March 2023, to join a package of individual sanctions related to the invasion, aimed at punishing individuals for violating human rights. "The calendar of alignment to sanctions does not depend only on us. Basically, the EU at certain times of the year invites countries to join new sanctions regimes (...) and the Republic of Moldova aligned itself with this regime", explained Popescu, adding: "Later we will also join other regimes of sanctions". At the same time, Popescu also suggested that the Republic of Moldova is still not examining the alignment with the economic sanctions against Russia, but said that Chisinau has "de facto" implemented the financial ones, since their introduction, in 2022.
