Moldova says Russia has no right to lecture on democracy

CHISINAU: Russia has no right to lecture on democracy, the Moldovan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, as tensions between the two countries have risen after Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria region asked Moscow for help.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier in the week that the Moldovan government “is following in the footsteps of Kyiv” after Transdniestria turned to Moscow to help its economy withstand “pressure” from the Moldovan government, which the Chisinau administration dismissed as a propaganda event.

“Minister Lavrov and the Kremlin regime have no moral right to lecture on democracy and freedom,” Moldova’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday.

“A country that imprisons opposition politicians and kills them, unreasonably attacks its neighbours, has nothing to offer the world but blood and pain.”