The statue of Lenin near the administration building of the city of Comrat, Gagauzia. Archive photoCHISINAU, June 20Ukrainian Ambassador to Moldova Marko Shevchenko expressed concern that the inhabitants of the Gagauz autonomy sympathize with Russia. Gagauzia is an autonomous territorial entity in the south of Moldova. In February 2014, a referendum was held in the autonomy on the issue of determining the vector of the country's foreign policy. More than 98% of its participants were in favor of Moldova's integration into the Customs Union.Chisinau said that the political dialogue with Moscow was practically interrupted Shevchenko noted that until 2014 there was no concern in his country about pro-Russian interests in Gagauzia, but now the Kyiv security agencies are monitoring developments in the autonomy and monitoring the situation in order to identify possible threats to the national security of Ukraine .»We are closely monitoring, analyzing whether there are chances of turning the pro-Russian sentiments of residents, politicians, leaders of Gagauzia into something more serious and dangerous for Ukraine or not. And since February 24, we began to monitor, observe and analyze this very carefully for the presence a threat to our national security,» the diplomat said in an interview with the Moldovan edition of Nokta. Shevchenko called the pro-Russian views in the region «flirting with Russia» and warned that the autonomy could be drawn into the conflict. «Both Crimea and Donbass once very seriously flirted with Russia They were the object of priority Russian investments, priority special Russian attention, priority regions where Russian delegations traveled, such as Crimea and Donbass. Both of these regions in Ukraine have been suppliers of pro-Russian politicians on an all-Ukrainian scale. The relevant pro-Russian factions in the Ukrainian parliament were largely made up of people from these regions, so Ukraine knows very well what this leads to. Unfortunately, Moldova knows this worse, although it also has its own experience that has not been very positive for 30 years,» the Ukrainian ambassador believes. Ukraine banned the Opposition Platform — For Life party aimed at supporting military aggression against Ukraine.» Kostyrkin pleads not guilty, and regards the actions of law enforcement agencies as pressure on the country's pro-Russian activists, as well as on public opinion leaders, independent journalism and freedom of expression. The journalist was supported by the public of Moldova and deputies of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia (regional parliament).
