Breakaway Moldovan Region Asks Moscow for ‘Protection’
“More than 220,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistria,” pro-separatist officials said in a new resolution.
AFP via Getty Images
Pro-separatist authorities in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria have publicly called on Moscow to step in and provide “protection” against “increasing pressure” from the Moldovan government.
The news dominated Russian state media Wednesday shortly after the congress of deputies in the unrecognized republic passed a resolution effectively inviting the Kremlin to embark on another land grab in the region in the name of protecting ethnic Russians.
Pro-Russian officials appealed to the Russian parliament to “implement measures to protect Transnistria in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova,” according to a copy of the document shared in Russian media. The resolution also noted that “more than 220,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistria.”
“The critical situation requires urgent and maximally active international intervention in order to prevent the escalation of tensions and keep the situation from developing into a crisis,” the document reads.
The public appeal comes after warnings from an opposition official that pro-Russian officials in Transnistria would soon ask to become a part of the Russian Federation. It also comes just a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly, where some predicted he might announce new geopolitical crusades.
But a spokesperson for the Moldovan government, Daniel Vodă, dismissed fears of potential destabilization in comments to European Pravda on Wednesday, calling the resolution nothing more than a “ploy” by the Kremlin and some pro-separatist officials.
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“We do not see the danger of destabilization,” he told the news outlet, noting that authorities were “monitoring [the situation] very closely.”
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