Russia makes it easier for residents of Transnistria to acquire Russian citizenship
Russia is carrying out a procedure which makes it simpler for residents of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic to acquire Russian citizenship, and intends to make progress in this direction soon, said Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.
“As I understand it, one of the pressing issues for the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is the possibility of simplified acquisition of citizenship. We understand that it’s very important to create conditions for people so that this process is bureaucratized as little as possible, so that it is convenient for the people who make the relevant decision for themselves. We are working very seriously on this topic, we have an order from the president of the Russian Federation,” Kosachev said at a meeting with Alexander Scherba, chairman of the Transnistrian Supreme Council, in Moscow on Tuesday.
“We hope that we will soon make serious progress in this regard,” the senator noted.
Scherba reported that 213,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistrian. However, the total number of inhabitants of the republic is more than half a million, and “this means that we still have major challenges ahead of us,” he said.
Commenting on the possibility of dealing with the situation in Transnistria, Kosachev expressed hope that this process would accelerate as a result of there being a new Moldavian president.
“In any event, the meeting of both presidents (of Moldavia and of Transnistria) in Bender for the first time in a long time gives certain grounds for optimism. As far as I understand, certain agreements were reached,” the senator explained.