As of: February 28, 2024, 4:30 p.m
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Lenin statue in front of the parliament building in Tiraspol in the separatist region of Transnistria.
© Hannah Wagner/dpa
EU candidate Moldova has long feared Russian aggression in the separatist region of Transnistria, which borders Ukraine.
Now those in power there are turning directly to Moscow.
Tiraspol - The pro-Russian rulers of the breakaway region of Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova have asked Russia for “protection,” according to media reports.
A congress of the internationally unrecognized separatist region that borders Ukraine voted for a corresponding resolution, from which Moldovan media quoted.
Transnistria therefore wants to turn to the Russian Federation Council and the State Duma “with a request to implement measures to protect Transnistria in view of the increasing pressure from Moldova”.
What exactly they expect from Russia was not initially clear.
Russian Foreign Ministry wants to examine the application
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in the afternoon that the responsible ministries wanted to examine this application.
“Protecting the residents of Transnistria, our compatriots, is one of the priorities,” said a statement from the Russian Foreign Office.
For EU accession candidate Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, this news is likely to fuel fears of Russian aggression on its territory - especially because Russia has already stationed its own soldiers in Transnistria for decades.
The region has seceded from Moldova since the 1990s.
After the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began in February 2022, Moldovan politicians have repeatedly expressed great concern.
Observers also accused Russia of deliberately destabilizing the situation in the region with provocations.
In their appeal to Moscow, those in power in Transnistria now also referred to Russian citizens who lived in the separatist region.
This will also worry many people.
According to Russian military doctrine, the army is also permitted to deploy outside its own territory if it is supposedly intended to protect Russian citizens.
At the moment, the Kremlin has not recognized Transnistria as its own state.
dpa