Interview
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The poorest country in Europe, Moldova, neighboring Ukraine, also has a separatist republic, Transnistria, which could be eyeing Moscow. However, its elites are already enjoying commercial advantages forged with the European Union, pending the country’s possible membership.
Moldova shares a border with Ukraine but also a particularity. One of its regions, Transnistria, is a “self-declared separatist republic”, with pro-Russian leanings. Like those of Donbass therefore, with the difference that Russia has never recognized it since its self-proclaimed independence in 1992. The fact remains that with the war in Ukraine, doubt hangs over a possible extension of the conflict to its lands. And all the more so as the port city of Odessa, located only 60 kilometers from the border, and still in the hands of the Ukrainians, could become a medium-term Russian objective. In the meantime, it is above all the question of the management of refugees that poses a problem. Overview with Vincent Henry, doctor in political science at the University of Paris-Est-Créteil and specialist in Moldova.
Would the Russians have an interest in entering Transnistria as they did in Donbass?
That’s the big question. For Moscow, it is not very interesting from an economic point of view. For the Transnistrians either, moreover, because they have benefited from a situation of between two for thirty years. D…