CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2022) Mass protests in the Gagauzia autonomy of Moldova were caused by the economic problems the whole country has been facing, head of the autonomy Irina Vlakh said on Friday.
In June, protests began in Gagauzia and in the whole country of Moldova, as demonstrators demanded the resignation of the government. They accused the authorities of being unable to cope with the crisis in the country, with rampant inflation having an unprecedented rise. Moldovan President Maya Sandu said that there had been attempts to destabilize the situation in the autonomy.
"Protests taking place in Gagauzia are connected with high prices and tariffs across the country. The people of Gagauzia strongly reacted to problems in the economy. And protesters reached out to central authorities to resolve the issue with gas tariffs, take measures to curb the inflation. The reasons for these protests are of exclusively economic nature. The autonomy is not interested at all in destabilizing the situation in Moldova," Vlakh said in an interview with the RLIVE broadcaster.
� Gagauzia was established in accordance with the law on its special status adopted by the Moldovan parliament in 1994. It put an end to a political conflict that started in 1991 when the people of Gagauzia declared independence of the region from Moldova.
In February, 2014 Gagauzia held a referendum on which more than 98 percent of population voted in favor of Moldova joining the Eurasian Customs Union instead of the European Union. Chisinau did not recognize the results of the referendum and opened a criminal case against its organizers.
