Moldova's parliament speaker officially asks head of state to no longer hold Moldovan pilots electoral hostages in Moscow
15:17 | 11.02.2019 Category: Official
Chisinau, 11 February /MOLDPRES/ - Moldovan pilots, who were kept hostages in Afghanistan, will return to Moldova soon. Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu appreciated the actions carried out by authorities for their urgent bringing home to families and thanked those involved in the release of the Moldovan citizens, the parliament’s communication and public relations department has reported.
”As a person who, due to the office held, was informed about the negotiations on the release and the discreet operations carried out by the authorities, I knew that that the Moldovan hostages were to come home back four months ago, when the Moldovan authorities ended the talks; yet, on the last moment, everything was blocked. Somebody told the kidnappers to keep them for a while and send them home via Moscow. Our authorities during four months have been trying to learn who triggered this situation and on what purpose,” the speaker said.
The parliament speaker said that, according to the information held, President Igor Dodon was keeping the two Moldovan pilots as hostages, in order to take advantage of their release on electoral purpose. The speaker condemned the actions of Igor Dodon, describing them as illegal and aimed against the citizens of Moldova.
”The electoral interest should not be put above the national interest and the life of the country’s citizens. We officially ask President Dodon to no longer hold Moldovan pilots as electoral hostages in Moscow, after three years during which they suffered a lot,” Andrian Candu stressed.
Moldova’s authorities will analyze the situation in all its complexity and will give legal assessments to the way the Moldovan president acted.
The two Moldovan pilots were taken hostage by Taliban in November 2015, after the helicopter of the air company for which they worked had been seized in Afghanistan. Three Moldovan citizens – members of the crew, and 18 Afghan citizens were onboard. One of the Moldovans was killed and another two were taken hostages by Taliban.
