Moldova's autonomous region of Gagauzia as a possible target of a Russian attack: The Institute for the Study of War is concerned.
Comrat - According to research by the US think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia is trying to create conditions for an attack on Moldova. On Friday, the People's Assembly of Gagauzia appealed to the parliament in Moldova to give the Russian language a special legal status: Russian should become an interethnic language.
The pro-Kremlin governor of Gagauzia, Jevgenia Gutsul, subsequently told the Russian news agency Tass that the Moldovan parliament was “Russophobic” and would resist this request.
Moldova Region Gagauzia: Lavrov may make hidden threat
In Gagauzia, 90 percent of people get their information from Russian-language media, and fewer and fewer speak Romanian, the official language of Moldova, or the Gagauz language, according to the German think tank Center for Liberal Modernity. Gutsul only won the elections in 2023. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Moldova and Armenia for taking steps towards the West during a radio interview on Friday. Since 2022, Moldova has had the status of an EU candidate country.
In addition, the West persuaded Moldovan President Maia Sandu to “openly drag Moldova into NATO, either directly or through unification with Romania. The ISW classifies Lavrov's comparison of the Moldovan government with the Armenian and Ukrainian governments as a "probably (...) tacit threat." It is also believed that the Kremlin is likely trying to destabilize Moldovan society, attack Moldova's democratic government and prevent Moldova from joining the European Union.
Moldova: Russia may reveal plan right after Ukraine attack
Immediately after the attack on Ukraine, a map on Russian TV revealed that Vladimir Putin could pursue further goals with the Ukraine war: the Gagauzia region could also be one of Russia's targets for conquest. There are also repeated explosions in Moldova, most recently at the beginning of April at a military base in Transnistria. The predominantly Russian-speaking region of Transnistria between the Dniester River and the Ukrainian border split off from the then newly independent Republic of Moldova after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin has around 1,500 soldiers permanently stationed in the region.
At the end of February, Transnistria had already asked for “protection” from Russia. At the beginning of April, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) assured Moldova of “concrete help against Moscow’s scenario of hybrid warfare”. Russia is aiming at the political and social destabilization of its Ukrainian neighbor Moldova. The USA is currently looking at another development in Russia: According to observers, Russia could be planning a nuclear strike in space. (dpa/kat)