None of GPI officers are fined for treating Russian Minister Shoygu's visit as official one
Nobody from General Police Inspectorate (GPI) will be fined for treating the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu to Moldova as an official one.
In August, Prime Minister Maia Sandu insisted not signing any permission for the Russians'visit due to insufficient procedures taken regarding this visit.
“As you haven’t taken all the legal steps, this visit is not an official one. As follows, the Government is not involved in this visit and cannot sign permissions or official agreements. As any other foreign citizen, Mr Shoygu can visit the Republic of Moldova as individual, but your meeting cannot have an official character, and you cannot sign any agreements,” mentioned Maia Sandu.
However, GPI chief Gheorghe Balan issued an order to ensure security of Shoygu and treated his visit as an official one. This order was issued two days after the Sandu's statements. Portal deschide.md published this document which neither GPI nor Internal Affairs Ministry challenged.
Then, PM Maia Sandu requested a service inquiry to see which GPI officials didn't comply with her order. The investigation has been completed.
"I received an explanation that their order was issued before the government meeting specified the visit's character. Thus, the MAI's colleagues were not informed this. I've warned that from now on, they should wait for our order before taking action", said PM Sandu.
At the invitation of President Dodon, Mr Shoygu attended the events of August 24 dedicated to the 75th celebration of "liberation from fascism" (as the Soviet Union named the historical events), along with a delegation of over 30 people.