CHISINAU: Moldovan leaders denounced as a threat Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of simplified Russian citizenship for the country’s pro-Russian Transdniestria separatist enclave and contemplated measures to counteract it.
Transdniestria broke from Moldova in 1990 when it was still a Soviet republic and, despite a brief conflict two years later, has since existed largely in peace alongside the country. A Russian military contingent of some 1,500 troops, which Russia sometimes describes as peacekeepers, separates the two sides and the enclave receives substantial Russian assistance.
Moldova’s government, which seeks to join the European Union by 2030, sees the enclave and the military presence as a means of Moscow exerting influence over its affairs. Last month, the contingent’s commanders were barred from entering Moldova.
Putin issued a decree on Friday, enabling Transdniestria’s 350,000 residents to secure Russian passports without meeting residence and other requirements. About half already hold Russian citizenship.
“Probably, they want more people to send to the war in Ukraine,” President Maia Sandu, a frequent critic of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor, told a conference in Estonia on Saturday.
