Why is the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova asking for protection from Russia?

(CNN) — Pro-Russian officials in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria have asked President Vladimir Putin for help as a threat to the Moldovan government.

Transnistria, which illegally seceded from Moldova after the collapse of the Soviet Union, remains firmly in the Kremlin’s orbit, while Moldova, which borders Ukraine, aspires to join the EU.

At an extraordinary congress on Wednesday, Transnistrian politicians asked Moscow to protect them from “increasing pressure from Moldova.” Russian state media RIA Novosti reported that the Kremlin later announced that protecting its “compatriots” was the priority.

Although Congress initially feared that Moscow would rapidly move forward on its long-standing plan to destabilize the pro-Western Moldovan government, Moldova denounced it as “propaganda”.

This is what you need to know how to know.

What happened in Transnistria?

The Soviet-era model of decision-making, meetings of the Transnistrian Congress of Deputies are rare but often important. The Congress of Deputies created Transnistria in 1990, leading to war two years later between Moscow-backed separatists and the fledgling Republic of Moldova.

Neither country officially recognizes Transnistria, where Russia has maintained a declining military presence for decades, currently about 1,500 troops.

Before this Wednesday, the most recent meeting of Congress was in 2006, when a referendum on Russia’s accession was approved. When Transnistrian politicians unexpectedly announced a new meeting, analysts suggested it might lead to new calls for unification with Russia. Moldovan and Ukrainian officials rejected these speculations.

The Congress did not go this far, instead passing a resolution calling on Russia to provide greater “protection” from Moldovan authorities to the more than 220,000 Russian citizens of Transnistria.

“Transnistria will continue to fight for its identity, the rights and interests of the people of Transnistria and will not give up defending them, despite any blackmail or external pressure,” the resolution said, according to Russian state media TASS.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that “protecting the interests of the people of Transnistria, our compatriots, is one of the priorities.”

Moldovan authorities dismissed the congress as an attempt to incite “hysteria”.

“There is no risk of escalation or destabilization of the situation in this region of our country,” spokesman Daniel Voda wrote on Telegram. “What is happening in Tiraspol (the capital of the region) is an act of propaganda.”

In a statement to CNN, Moldova’s Reintegration Office said it “rejects Tiraspol’s propaganda statements and reminds that the Transnistria region benefits from peace, security and economic integration policies with the EU, all of which are beneficial for the citizens.”

For his part, Matt Miller, spokesman for the United States State Department, announced this Wednesday that the country “closely follows Russia’s actions in Transnistria and the general situation in the region.”

Why hold a conference now?

Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a profound impact on the economy of Transnistria. Ukraine closed its border with Transnistria when the war began, disrupting about a quarter of the enclave’s trade. Although it still gets free Russian gas, the agreement to allow its transit through Ukraine is due to expire in December, and there is no guarantee it will be extended.

The war also prompted Moldova to attempt to resolve its decades-old conflict with Transnistria. Partly in response to the war, the EU granted candidate status to Moldova in June 2022 and gave the green light to start accession negotiations in December 2023.

Although Moldova’s President Maia Sandu has indicated that she would be willing to join the EU without Transnistria, reunification could speed up the process. A recent blog by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace stated that “Moldova’s strategy for Transnistria is to speed up the process by making life as difficult as possible”.

In this regard, Moldova unexpectedly removed customs exemptions for Transnistrian companies in January, forcing them to pay levies to both Transnistria and Moldova.

Dumitru Minzari, a professor of security studies at the Baltic Defense College, told CNN that Transnistria’s decision to hold the special congress was “directly provoked” by Moldova’s reimposition of customs duties.

Minzarri claimed, “By granting tax exemptions to the breakaway region, the Moldovan government was virtually financing the existence of a separatist regime in Tiraspol,” an arrangement that the government is no longer obliged to tolerate.

Minzarri said the dispute had created opportunities for Russian officials to “fish in troubled waters.”

Why is Russia interested in Moldova?

Had the Russian invasion of Ukraine gone as planned, it would have captured the capital Kiev in a matter of days and the rest of the country within weeks, devastating the Ukrainian coast as far as the southwestern city of Odessa near Transnistria.

The then-commander of Russia’s Central Military Region, Major General Rustam Minnekaev, said that one goal of the so-called “special military operation” was to establish a corridor from southern Ukraine to Transnistria, as Russia reunited with its “compatriots living abroad”. Wants to unite. ,

Although Ukraine halted Moscow’s advance in Kherson, about 350 kilometers from Transnistria, analysts say Russia maintains its intentions on Moldova.

“The Kremlin intends to use Transnistria as a Russian-controlled proxy, which it will use to, among other things, influence Moldova’s EU accession process,” the Institute for the Study of War, a research group, warned in a report last week. “Could derail.” Located in the United States.

A statue of Lenin in front of the House of Soviets building in Tiraspol in July 2022. (Credit: Anton Polyakov/Getty Images)

Just as Russia deemed Ukraine’s 2014 approach to the EU unacceptable – and used military force to stop it – it is prepared to stop the same in Moldova. CNN last year saw a document prepared by the Russian security service, the FSB, detailing its plan to destabilize Moldova and thwart its tilt toward the West.

Putin justified Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and military operations in Donetsk and Luhansk as an effort to protect Russian-speaking citizens of eastern Ukraine, who he claimed were threatened by Kiev.

Minjarri said there were “strong parallels” between that rhetoric and that recently used by the Transnistrian government. In an interview with RIA Novosti, President Vadim Kranoselsky claimed, without providing evidence, that the Moldovan government was preparing to carry out terrorist attacks against Transnistria in the event of a possible invasion.

However, other analysts argue that, rather than underscoring Russia’s influence in the region, the situation in Transnistria serves as a reminder of how Moscow has so far failed to achieve its main war objectives.

“Calls for the annexation of Transnistria rejected by Russia would be a major public relations coup for Ukraine, reminding Russians and Ukrainians that two years ago commentators believed that modest war goals are now far out of reach ” It is difficult for Russia to even consider this. Them,” Ben Dubow, a non-resident researcher at the Center for European Political Analysis, told CNN.

CNN’s Radina Gigova contributed to this report