NR2: RUSSIA KEEPS ITS EYE ON MOLDOVA AND NATO WHILE TRANSDNISTRIA TRIES TO BREAK FREE
For DAILYBABEL.COM
The authorities of the Moldovan breakaway region of Transdnistria are going to use the current political crisis in Moldova to seek closer relations with Russia, says NR2.
In a move to gain more independence from Moldova, Transdinstrian separatists are developing new methods to bring into effect the results of the September 2006 referendum that showed a majority of Transdnistrians favoring a union with the Russian Federation. In a simultaneous effort to control the actions of the Moldovan authorities in Chisinau, Moscow is asking its allies within the Trasdnistrian separatist movement to organize themselves according to Russian foreign policy protocol.
Transdnistria’s debt for Russian gas (now at more than 1 million dollars and growing) and the emerging geopolitical significance of the separatist region has required Moscow to pay closer attention to the events unfolding in Moldova.
Russia is aware that another Georgia scenario would not bode well within Moldova and with the EU community at large. However, Moldova’s instability and Transdnistria’s separatist ambitions help Russia maintain leverage over NATO’s Eastern European expansion.
More than maintaining Russian influence in ex-Soviet countries, stopping NATO’s advance appears to be Russia’s long-term goal.
