Renegade pro-Russians "demilitarize"?
Moldovan politician calls for “action” with NATO and Ukraine
Created: 2022-12-25 06:16
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
For decades, the separatist region of Transnistria has been a lever for Moscow to put pressure on the small southwestern ex-Soviet republic of Moldova.
© Hannah Wagner/dpa
A Moldovan politician is calling for the breakaway and pro-Russian region of Transnistria to be “demilitarized”.
NATO and Ukraine should help.
Munich – Russia in particular repeatedly uses the term “demilitarization” in connection with the Ukraine war.
In addition to the so-called "denazification", the Kremlin names the "demilitarization" of Ukraine as one of the main goals of the war of aggression against the neighboring country.
Surprisingly, a Moldovan politician from President Maia Sandu's ruling party is now using the term.
MP Oazu Nantoi called on NATO and Ukraine to help Moldova "demilitarize" the pro-Russian and internationally unrecognized province of Transnistria.
Moldova fears it will be Vladimir Putin's next target.
Moldovan politician calls for "demilitarization" of Transnistria - and calls on NATO for help
Nantoi called for "coordinated actions with Ukraine and NATO," as quoted by the Ukrainian news portal
European Pravda
from a broadcast on the public broadcaster TVR Moldova.
Without a "specific plan for the complete demilitarization of the area" one cannot talk about a renewed integration of Transnistria into the Republic of Moldova, said the politician of the ruling party Action and Solidarity (PAS).
Nantoi strictly rejected possible negotiations.
A dialogue with the authorities in Tiraspol, the capital of the breakaway region, is not possible "since the regime has no right to exist anyway".
"I don't think that the so-called Transnistrian conflict should be solved on the basis of dialogue," Nantoi stressed.
It makes no sense to "play around with negotiations," added the politician.
Moldova's ruling party distances itself from MPs - "demilitarization" of Transnistria
The governing party PAS took a position on the statements made by its MP in
relation to the Moldovan news portal
NewsMaker .
Nantoi's statements were not coordinated with the party, the ruling party said in a statement.
"Chisinau is determined to achieve the integration of the region through diplomacy and dialogue," said the PAS press service.
An undetermined number of Russian troops are located in the breakaway region of Transnistria.
According to Moscow, these are part of a peacekeeping mission in the region.
In the background of the Ukraine war, especially during heavy attacks on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, there were fears that the Russian military command could open a new front from Transnistria.
Now, above all, a possible participation in the war by Belarus is alarming in Ukraine.
(bb)
