MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Moldovan President Maia Sandu is persecuting Gagauzia because it has always remained a pro-Russian region, Russian State Duma lawmaker Alena Arshinova told TASS, commenting on Evgenia Gutsul's removal from the post of Gagauzia head.

"All this is solely because Gagauzia has never supported unification with Romania and has remained a pro-Russian region favoring cooperation with Moscow. The Gagauz people's position interfered with the Moldovan regime's plans to eliminate Moldovan statehood in favor of the Romanian project. Yet Gagauzia has been and remains a stronghold of Moldovan statehood. The Gagauz people do not want to become a Romanian district deprived of their own identity," she said.

A day earlier, the People's Assembly of Gagauzia, acting under a court ruling and the law on the autonomy's special legal status, declared that Gutsul was unable to perform her duties and that the post of head of the autonomy was vacant. Some lawmakers called the removal "unnecessary haste" and urged waiting for a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice.