(Bloomberg) — Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria called on Russia to step in and halt what it described as attempts by the government in Chisinau to bring the enclave back into its fold through exerting economic pressure.
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Transnistria’s call for unspecified help from Moscow risks an escalation of the previously frozen conflict with the pro-European Union government of President Maia Sandu, while giving Russia an opening to intensify its hybrid attacks against Chisinau.
Still, the step falls well short of speculation that the region was about to call a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, a move that would echo sham votes staged in occupied territories of Ukraine.
“They have been asking to reunite with Russia for decades and have held referenda before,” Moldova’s Ambassador to the US Viorel Ursu said of Transnistria in an interview on Thursday, dismissing the move.
The self-proclaimed administration in Tiraspol adopted a declaration directed at Moscow, the United Nations and other international organizations, at a congress convened Wednesday, denouncing recently introduced trade taxes by Moldova’s pro-European Union government.
The measures could cost the region about 10% of its economic output, according to the enclave’s economy minister, Serghei Obolonik.
Sandu, speaking on Wednesday, said the government was “taking small steps toward the economic reintegration of the country.”
“Moldova is committed to a peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict,” she said.
While the situation may be reminiscent of a playbook that the Kremlin adopted two years ago to justify its invasion of Ukraine, the situation is complicated by the fact that Russia has no direct border with Moldova and its troops are already stretched.
‘Limited’ threat
What’s more, the military threat posed by the troops in Transnistria is “limited,” according to Ambassador Ursu. “Many soldiers are actually local recruits with Russian passports,” he said. “It’s unlikely they’d be willing to die for Russia. Russians’ presence in the backyard is perceived as a bigger threat by Ukraine.”
Transnistria, a narrow strip of land wedged between Moldova and Ukraine, is home to ethnically Russian separatists running a pro-Kremlin breakaway republic. As well as military units, it hosts Soviet-era ammunition depots.
Since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, worries have arisen that the country could be overrun if Russia sought to link Transnistria to Moscow-controlled territories.
Sandu, who has sought to shift Moldova’s outlook west, warned last year that Russia was trying to destabilize the nation and overthrow the government. Under her presidency, Moldova applied for EU membership and gained candidate status. Sandu is facing re-election later this year.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking at a news conference in Warsaw, described the situation in Moldova as serious. “We must be aware that it may fall victim to aggression as well as hybrid actions,” he said. “We have experience with Russia, we know that every scenario is possible.”
Among Europe’s poorest, the landlocked nation of 2.6 million wedged between Ukraine and Romania has come under intense pressure since the start of Russia’s invasion. The breakaway region is recognized internationally as part of Moldova’s territory.
The government has received hundreds of millions of euros in the past year from the EU and other international donors to help it stay afloat amid a rising energy bill and support for refugees fleeing neighboring Ukraine.
–With assistance from Peter Martin.
(Updates with additional details starting in fifth paragraph.)
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