Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu is set to visit Chișinău on August 24, at the invitation of President Igor Dodon. However Prime Minister Maia Sandu has declared the visit a private one because the Government was not notified ahead of time. 

Moldova’s Head of State invited the Russian Defense Minister to attend a feast he and the Socialist Party have organized to commemorate “75 years since the liberation of Moldova from the fascist occupation.” 

However, during a Government meeting on August 21, Prime Minister Maia Sandu said that Shoygu’s visit to Chișinău will be a private one, because Moldova’s Defense Minister, Pavel Voicu, did not take the legal steps necessary to organize an official visit.

President Sandu also warned Voicu that during the visit of the Russian Minister, he cannot sign official agreements or arrangements with his counterpart.

“As a result, the Government is not involved in this visit and no official agreements or arrangements can be signed. Like any foreign national, Mr. Shoygu can visit the Republic of Moldova as a private person, but your meeting cannot have an official character,” Sandu declared. 

She informed the minister that the Government must be notified in advance, in writing, when he wants to officially invite guests to Moldova. Furthermore the minister must also take all the procedural steps necessary to ensure the involvement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassies, so that protocol is respected and an agenda set.

Prime Minister Sandu also said that those responsible for the incident will be identified and asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Nicu Popescu, to discuss the matter with the Ambassador of Moldova to the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, Moldova’s Minister of Defense claimed that there had been some confusion, and that the head of the government should have understood that his Russian counterpart is coming to Moldova at President’s Dodon invitation.

Moldovan Minister of Defense Pavel Voicu previously paid an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu, from July 25 to 27, 2019.