A series of terrorist attacks in less than 24 hours in the self-proclaimed Moldovan republic of Transnistria (RMT), with a Russian-speaking majority and bordering Ukraine, triggered this Tuesday the tensions in that explosive region.
(Read: Moldova convenes security meeting after explosions in pro-Russian zone)
“According to the information we have, escalation attempts are related to internal Transnistrian forces who want a war and they are interested in destabilizing the situation,” Moldova’s President Maia Sandu told reporters after an urgent meeting with the country’s Supreme Security Council.
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The president in turn condemned “all provocations and attempts to involve Moldova in actions that could threaten peace in the country.” “Chisinau continues to insist on a peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict,” she stressed.
To understand this situation and possible Russian immersion in the Moldovan separatist territory, it is important to know the origins of this conflict and the reasons why they declare themselves as an independent region of Moldova.
What is Transnistria?
The self-proclaimed Republic of Transnistria or Cisdniester is a territory of barely half a million inhabitantsmostly Slavs, who broke ties with Moldova after an armed conflict (1992-1993) in which they had Russian help, which now has some 2,000 troops in the area to guarantee peace.
It declared itself a republic on October 29, 1990 and is located in the east of the former Soviet republic of Moldova.
Its capital is Tiraspol and it has 12% of the Moldovan territory and 23% of the industrial production, plus the control of transportation routes and gas pipelines. Hence the interest shown by Moldova, which is reluctant to lose this region, and also by Moscow, which supports its independence.
It has more than half a million inhabitants, Russian and Ukrainian majority, and an area of 4,163 square kilometers on the left bank of the Dniester (Nistru) River.
How did you ‘become independent’?
On December 1, 1991, Transnistria held presidential and independence elections, not recognized by Moldova or the international community, which made Igor Smirnov president.
– Four years later, on December 24, 1995, in the legislative elections, the bicameral Parliament was constituted with 67 deputies and a constitutional referendum was held, with 81% supporting its independence Constitution.
– Transnistria once again challenged Moldova in the December 2005 parliamentary elections in which a dozen parties competed, all of them pro-independence, including the two great rivals: Republic and Renovation.
– A referendum on September 17, 2006 – on joining Russia or Moldova – recorded an overwhelming “yes” (97%) to annexation to Russia.
What relationship do they have with Russia?
Following the Russian military invasion of neighboring Ukraine on February 24, the Moldovan Parliament declared a state of emergency fearing that Russia would activate its soldiers in Transnistria to support an assault on the Ukrainian city of Odessa, less than 100 kilometers.
More than 20,000 tons of Soviet weapons have been in Transnistria since the end of the Cold War.
On March 5, the authorities of self-proclaimed independent Transnistria called for its independence to be recognised, after Moldova formally applied to join the EU.
When Russia recognizes the Republic of Transnistria and the annexation referendum to Russia, a corridor would be created that joins Donbass and the southern part of Ukraine to Transnistria, to join Transnistria to Crimea, they will have to occupy Odessa and leave Ukraine without access to the sea. pic.twitter.com/ULxkoZEaUX
— THE PUPIL (@ArturoMeggido) April 24, 2022
Putin is not indifferent to the case
Without a doubt, the news that arrives from there causes concern.
Russia, which maintains a peacekeeping military contingent in Transnistria, “follows very closely” the situation in the region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Peskov denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to hold consultations with his Moldovan counterpart to address the situation in Transnistria when answering a question about it.
“We would not want as a result of the investigation it was established that after this (the attacks in Transnistria) se find the same forces that cause violence in neighboring regions“Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andréi Rudenko declared, referring to the ‘neo-Nazi regime’, as they address the Zelensky government in Ukraine.
The diplomat, a member of the Russian delegation that has met with Ukrainian representatives to explore the possibility of an agreement to put an end to the military actions launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, refrained from anticipating Moscow’s reaction in case that Transnistria is drawn into this conflict.
“Let’s wait for the investigations to be concluded. We would like to avoid that scenario,” Rudenko said.
The plan to reach Moldova
Control over the south of Ukraine is also a way to access Transnistria, where acts of discrimination against Russian-speaking residents are also confirmed.
The worsening of the situation in Transnistria comes after a Russian high command admitted this Friday that Moscow’s military plan in Ukraine is to create a corridor from Donbas to the Crimean peninsula and extend it from there, through southern Ukraine, to Transnistria.
Since the end of that conflict, which cost the lives of hundreds of people, Moldova has advocated the integration of the two territories divided by the Dniester River, something the separatists have always refused to do.
Under the Agreement for the Peaceful Solution of the Transnistrian conflict signed in July 1992, Russia deployed 2,400 troops to ensure peace in the area and protect a huge arsenal of the Soviet Union’s 14th Armywhere it is estimated that some 20,000 tons of weapons and ammunition currently remain.
Moldova has demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops and the arsenal, but collides with Moscow’s refusal, which ensures that the presence of its troops is legitimate and only when there is a political agreement between Chisinau and Tiraspol will it be possible to talk about the end of the peace mission.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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