The leader of the secessionist republic of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov, was held for several hours at the Vienna airport on Sunday for a checkup of his passport, Moldova's state news agency Moldpres quoted an Austrian report as saying. Smirnov was asked to give explanations in connection with his Russian passport at a police station in the Austrian capital, it claimed.

Transnistrian officials who asked not to be named confirmed for BASA that the incident was connected with a passport checkup. It is now known what was the motives that fuelled suspicions of the Austrian border authorities. The official Tiraspol declines from comments on the incident or on the purpose of Smirnov's visit to Austria.

While some sources from Smirnov's entourage say the Transnistrian leader had travelled to Vienna on businesses related to the OSCE ministerial summit in Porto, Portugal, others indicate it was a private visit to Vienna.

AFTER INCIDENT IN VIENNA, SMIRNOV TRAVELLED TO GERMANY

The leader of the secessionist republic of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov, was briefly held by police at the Vienna airport on Sunday for a passport checkup, but was later released and continued his trip to Germany, Transnistrian officials who asked not to be named told BASA. There were no charges against Smirnov, they stressed.

Smirnov was heading for a private visit to Germany and changed the plane in Vienna, where the border police looked into his Russian passport and the Schengen visa issued in Chisinau.

Transnistrian officials speculate the checkup in Vienna was carried out at the request of the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, which had earlier asked the embassies of the European Union members to deny entry visas to Transnistrian leaders travelling with other passports but Moldovan.

The official Tiraspol declines from comments on the incident in Vienna, which was reported by Moldova's state news agency Moldpres with reference to an Austrian report. Russian diplomats in the Austrian capital said they held no knowledge about the incident.