CHISINAU, April 27. /TASS/. The entire political leadership of the Gagauz autonomous region is under pressure of the Moldovan authorities, Yevgenia Gutsul, the regional head, told TASS commenting on the searches and questioning of members of the Gagauz Executive Committee delegation at Chisinau Airport on Friday.

"Everyone in Gagauzia’s political leadership is facing such a biased attitude, namely members of the People’s Assembly, members of the Executive Committee and the corps of mayors," she said.

On Friday, four members of Gagauzia’s Executive Committee delegation were searched and questioned at Chisinau Airport upon their arrival from a trip to Russia and Turkey. The speaker of the People’s Assembly (local parliament), Dmitry Konstantinov, who came back home from Russia a few days before, said that he had been searched, questioned and stripped of his diplomatic passport right at Chisinau Airport.

After winning the regional election, Gutsul announced her intention to step up the region’s friendly relations with Russia and bashed Chisinau’s policy of confrontation with Moscow. The Moldovan authorities attempted to declare the election illegal, but Gagauzia’s parliament stood by the politician and several mass rallies swept across the region in support of the new head. After that, Moldovan President Maia Sandu refused to put her signature under an executive order installing Gutsul as a member of the government, although the country’s legislation stipulates this.