MOSCOW, December 5 (RAPSI) – Transnistrian President Yevgeny Shevchuk has submitted a bill to parliament on introducing Russian legislation in the breakaway republic, his press service announced on Wednesday.

The bill provides for adding a new article to the Transnistrian Constitution stipulating that “the legal system of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic is based on the federal legislation of the Russian Federation, the legislation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties.” It also reads that the republic’s legislation should give precedence to Russian legislation and should be considered sub-federal.

Shevchuk said that Transnistria should adjust to a new economic situation after Moldova initialed an EU Association Agreement, which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), at the Vilnius summit.

Transnistria, where Russians and Ukrainians constitute 60% of the population, requested secession from Moldova even before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, fearing that Moldova would unite with Romania. Following Moldova’s unsuccessful military attempt to settle the issue in 1992, Chisinau lost control over the breakaway republic on the left bank of the Dniester.