Moldova Bars Russian Delegation for Attempted Election Interference

Andrian Cheptonar, an MP from Moldova's governing Action and Solidarity, PAS party welcomed on Tuesday a decision to bar entry to a Russian delegation led by the head of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnihanov, on the grounds that it intended to interfere in the country's internal affairs.

"Previously used to being able to do whatever they want on the territory of our country, today Russian leaders were denied access to Moldova," Cheptonar wrote on Facebook.

"It is illegal for politicians and artists and priests from an aggressor and terrorist country to campaign here," he added.

The delegation, which arrived on a private plane accompanied by a senior Orthodox cleric, intended to travel to the autonomous region of Gagauzia in southern Moldova to campaign for pro-Russian candidate Viktor Petrov in his electoral campaign for governor of the territory.

The election in Gagauzia, a region populated by a Turkish Orthodox ethnic minority that is sympathetic to Moscow, is scheduled for April 30.

Minnihanov claimed that he was designated persona non grata by the Moldovan authorities. However, the Border Police rejected the claim, stating that Minnihanov was only denied entry to Moldova and asked not to get involved in the country's internal affairs.

Petrov, who is known in Moldova for his staunch pro-Russian stance, condemned the barring of the Russian delegation.

"I urge the leaders and societies of the entire Turkic world to pay more attention to the lawlessness in Moldova and the humiliation of their brothers in spirit and blood," Petrov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned the ban on the Tatarstan leader.

"We regard the decision of the Moldovan authorities as...