The new Moldovan Prime Minister, Dorin Recean, on February 16, 2023. VLADISLAV CULIOMZA / REUTERS
The Moldovan government has called for the demilitarization of Transnistria, a territory where Russian troops are stationed. He is also asking for European sanctions against Moldovan oligarchs accused of helping Russia to destabilize the country.
The Kremlin on Monday accused Moldova ofanti-russian hysteriaafter statements by the Prime Minister calling for the demilitarization of the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria, at the heart of tensions rekindled by the conflict in Ukraine.
During a session in the Moldovan parliament on Thursday, new Prime Minister Dorin Recean said he was “important to continue our efforts for the Russian troops to withdrawfrom Transnistria.
“Very strained” relations
“The Transdniestrian area must be demilitarized“, he insisted. On Saturday, the new spokesman for the Moldovan government, Daniel Voda, told him that this demilitarization was “fundamental“to ensure a “peaceful reintegration” from the country.
Asked about these statements, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed on Monday that relations between Moscow and Chisinau were “very, very tense“. “The Moldovan government, in a way, insists on everything anti-Russian and also falls into anti-Russian hysteria“, added Dmitri Peskov, during his daily press conference. “Obviously, I would recommend to our Moldovan counterparts to be extremely carefulabout their statements, warned Dmitry Peskov.
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Tension is high between Moscow and the pro-European Moldovan authorities, who last week accused Russia of wanting to foment a coup in Moldova, accusations denied by Russian diplomacy.
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Former Soviet republic of 2.6 million inhabitants located between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova, which has a large Russian minority, has taken a pro-Western turn in recent years, arousing the anger of Moscow.
Transnistria, an industrial region on the border with Ukraine, broke away de facto from Moldova in 1992 after a short war. Since then, Russian soldiers have been deployed there and this territory has large stocks of weapons. After the massive Russian attack on kyiv in February 2022, the Kremlin was accused of raising the threat of new clashes in Transnistria, to destabilize Ukraine and Moldova.
Punish the Russian oligarchs
Sign that tensions are high, Moldova on Monday asked the EU to impose sanctions on Moldovan oligarchs accused of helping Russia to destabilize the country. “This is not the first time that Moldova has faced such situations since last yearsaid Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu during a meeting in Brussels with EU Foreign Ministers.
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Nicu Popescu called on his counterparts to place “the oligarchs and corrupt politicians who, together with Russia, are trying to destabilize Moldovaon a blacklist of people banned from traveling to the EU and whose assets are frozen by the Twenty-Seven. “We must put these oligarchs, who are Russian proxies, on the EU sanctions list and we must provide increased security support to Ukraine through the European Peace Facility“, replied the Estonian Minister Urmas Reinsalu.
Meeting in Brussels, the European foreign ministers must decide on Monday on the support to be given to Moldova, which will host the second meeting of the European Community for Peace in June. Moldova and Ukraine won candidate status for EU membership last year, but the process will take several years.