Ozerov summoned to the Foreign Ministry: Chișinău asks Russia to 'refrain' from opening the 16 polling stations in Transnistria

NewsMaker reports that on 3 September 2026 Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Russian ambassador Oleg Ozerov and handed him a protest note over Moscow's intention to open 16 more polling stations for the State Duma election in the Transnistria region. The ministry said any electoral process on Moldovan territory requires the prior and express consent of the authorities in Chișinău, that only one polling station, in Chișinău, had been agreed with the Russian embassy, and that opening the others was unacceptable; Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi called any station opened without consent an unfriendly act. Transnistria's de facto leader Vadim Krasnoselsky had announced 17 stations on 28 August.