Save Transnistria from Putin’s influence, Moldova urges EU

MOLDOVA has urged the EU to save Transnistria from falling under the influence of Vladimir Putin.

Mihai Popsoi, the Moldovan foreign minister, said: “If Ukraine were to fail to resist, then we are next in line. Our citizens are fully aware of that threat.”

He made the comments as European leaders intensify efforts to firm up support for the tiny former Soviet republic.

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, struck a security deal with Maia Sandu, Moldova’s president, in Paris recently. Last week, Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, said in parliament that if Putin is allowed to defeat Ukraine, “Moldova would be at risk”.

As Moldova vies for EU membership, Moscow has ramped up its efforts to destabilise the country by encouraging separatists in the pro-russian enclave of Transnistria to break away, in a bid to retain its authority in the region.

Mr Popsoi called on EU countries to support Moldova’s accession to the bloc and provide foreign investment, arguing that greater European alignment would help bring stability to the region.

“Moldova’s EU accession is a very strong pull factor for the Transnistrian region that also stands to benefit from these positive developments,” he said. “We want to provide them opportunities economically in exchange for reintegration of the country.”

Relations have long been fractious between the Moldovan capital Chisinau and Transnistria, a sliver of land on the Ukraine border, which has been de facto controlled by pro-russian forces since the collapse of the Soviet Union but is recognised as part of Moldova.

“The wounds are still fresh for many Moldovan families,” Mr Popsoi said of the Transnistrian War, which split the country from 1990 onwards.

Since Moscow began its assault on Ukraine, Chisinau has been concerned the Kremlin could use Transnistria to open a new front in the south-west, in the direction of Odesa. Last week Transnistrian officials appealed for Russian “protection”, setting alarm bells ringing about a potential annexation plot.

The statement came a few days after Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said the rights of pro-russian separatists in Transnistria must be respected, the day before Putin’s annual speech.

In the event, nothing happened, vindicating a Moldovan intelligence analysis which described the plot as “another campaign to create hysteria”.

The Kremlin has 1,500 troops permanently in the region and has warned Ukraine and Moldova that attacking them would incur consequences. But Moldova is concerned about Russia’s attempts to sow instability through disinformation.

“We take this bellicose rhetoric with a grain of salt,” said Mr Popsoi.

“The imminent threat towards our borders is smaller but the threat towards our information space, our political system, remains strong.”