Pro-Russian Separatists In Transnistria Breakaway Region Petitions Russia For Protection From Moldova
Moldova has, as of late, been concerned that Russia could use the breakaway region to open up a new southwestern front in its conflict in Ukraine, widening the current conflict around Odsea.
MOLDOVA - Pro-Russian separatists in the internationally unrecognized Moldovan breakaway region of Transnistria have petitioned Russia for protection from Moldova, which it says has unleashed an “economic war” against it in order to turn it into a “ghetto” by blocking its key imports.
Transnistria’s foreign policy chief Vitaly Ignatiev said, “The decisions of the current congress cannot be ignored by the international community”.
Transnistria has been ruled by pro-Russian separatists since it broke off from Moldova shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed. In 1992 war broke out between Moldova and Transnistria resulting in nearly a thousand deaths, and Russian intervention in the conflict on the side of the separatists.
Moldova has, as of late, been concerned that Russia could use the breakaway region to open up a new southwestern front in its conflict in Ukraine, widening the current conflict around Odsea.
As Moldova is not currently (and has no official plans to join) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and remains constitutionally neutral, NATO-allied countries would not be obligated to defend it if Russia were to engage it on behalf of Transnistria.
Daniel Voda, the spokesperson for the Moldovian Prime Minister said of the planned meeting in Transnistria, “This event was planned by those on the left side of the Dniester River and the Kremlin. We see no danger of destabilisation. We are watching very closely and reiterating that this region also wants peace and security”.
He added that the meeting in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region of Transnistria “does not deserve live broadcasts by foreign journalists and tense headlines”.
Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Serebrian said on Telegram that the Moldovan government, “rejects the propaganda statements coming from Tiraspol and recalls that the Transnistrian region benefits from the policies of peace, security and economic integration with the European Union, which are beneficial for all citizens”.
A Moldovan government official also said on Telegram, “From Chisinau, things look calm... There is no danger of escalation and destabilization of the situation in the Transnistrian region. This is another campaign to create hysteria”.