German foreign minister: New developments in Moldova similar to Ukraine

BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock believes recent developments in Moldova mirror those at the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in 2014, when Moscow illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula.

Her comments came after the pro-Russian rulers of the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova asked Russia for “protection,” according to media reports. Transnistria is internationally recognized as part of Moldova, and has not been recognized as independent except by two other Russian-backed breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in the Caucasus nation of Georgia.

A congress of the internationally unrecognized separatist region in Moldova, which borders on Ukraine, voted in favor of a resolution to this effect on Wednesday, Moldovan media reported. According to the resolution, Transnistria wants to turn to the Russian Federation Council and the State Duma “with a request to implement measures to protect Transnistria in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova.”

What exactly they expect from Russia was not immediately clear.

Germany’s top diplomat Baerbock on Thursday drew parallels to developments in eastern Ukraine in 2014, when minority groups were weaponized by Russian President Vladimir Putin to help prepare his fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she said.

“Sham referendums, sham proceedings to destabilize another country are a breach of international law,” Baerbock asserted. Her ministry has long been aware of the destabilization of the Republic of Moldova from outside, she added.

Baerbock stressed that she wanted to support Moldova in its right to territorial integrity.