Lawmakers take part in a congress of deputies of Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria (Picture: AFP)
Politicians in Moldova’s Kremlin-backed separatist region of Transnistria have appealed to Vladimir Putin to provide it with ‘protection’.
Fears were stoked last week that Russia’s president was preparing for yet another landgrab in Europe in the wake of the two-year anniversary of his full-scale war in Ukraine.
President Maia Sandu’s government has been fielding calls since Ghenadie Ciorba, an opposition figure in Transnistria, suggested that separatists are planning to call for a referendum on the region’s annexation to Russia.
This culminated at a session of the territory’s Congress of Deputies, a Soviet-style assembly that last met in 2006.
There are an estimated 1,500 Russian soldiers in Transnistria, referred to as a ‘peacekeeping’ force (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Transnistria stopped short of requesting annexation by Russia – instead pleading for help for its economy ‘in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova’.
It came after Sandu’s pro-Western government required Transnistrian firms to pay import duties to the central budget from January.
Instead of rising to Chorba’s provocation, Moldova stressed the move was part of Russia’s ongoing propaganda to destabilise the country as it looks ahead to EU membership.
Putin’s war changed Transnistria’s economic fortunes. Until his tanks crossed the border in February 2022, Ukraine accounted for about a quarter of the region’s trade, alongside contraband arriving via the Black Sea port of Odesa.
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But Ukraine closed its border with landlocked Transnistria, positioned between the east bank of the Dniester River and Moldova’s border with Ukraine.
While internationally recognised as part of Moldova, the territory has been under the control of separatist authorities since 1992.
This appeal to the Kremlin is now seen as a reminder of its allegiances and likely an attempt to get more funding.
Oleg Serabrian, deputy prime minister for reintegration in Moldova, stressed that the congress was a propaganda event, adding that Transnistria is benefiting from his government’s push to join the EU.
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