Transnistria Congress Accuses Moldova of 'Blockade', Gives Russian Annexation a Miss

Congress in breakaway region hears denunciations of Moldova's 'economic blockade' – but expected calls for Russian annexation or recognition do not feature.

The leader of Transnistria, Vadim Kransoselsky, makes a speech at the ‘Together with Russia’ forum on May 3, 2018, in Moscow,. Photo: Transnistria diplomacy website

Deputies of all levels from Moldova’s separatist Transnistria region during a congress on Thursday asked Russia for more support in its negotiations with Moldova, noting that 220,000 citizens in the region have Russian passports.

Despite rumours, the congress made no mention of the region’s possible recognition by Russia, or annexation. Moscow supports the breakaway region, but does not recognise it as a state.

A resolution by the congress leaked to the Moldovan media seeks “implementation of measures to intensify the negotiation process with Transnistria, taking into account [its 220,000 Russian citizens and] … the unique experience of Russia in the field of peacekeeping”.

Transnistria wants to continue the 5+2 negotiation format, although two of the five guarantor countries, Russia and Ukraine, are now in full military conflict. Tiraspol’s representatives reject bilateral 1:1 meetings with the Chisinau authorities.

The separatist leader, Vadim Kransoselsky, accused Moldova at the congress of waging an “economic blockade” against Transnistria, a narrative he has circulated before.

“Moldova traditionally uses global difficulties to infringe on [Transnistria]. This also applied to the collapse of the Soviet Union at one time, this applied to the pandemic, this concerns the fighting in Ukraine,” Krasnoselsky said.

Moldova imposed taxes on the import and export of products to/from Transnistria, starting January 1, angering Tiraspol. Until the entry into force of this change to the customs code of Moldova, businesses in Transnistria were exempt from trade taxes, creating competitive difficulties for counterparts in Moldova.

The spokesperson of the Moldovan government, Daniel Voda, on Thursday denied escalating the conflict. “There are no dangers of escalation and destabilisation. It is another campaign to try to make society hysterical. We see no danger of destabilisation. We are watching closely. The only tension today is the gloomy weather outside,” he commented.

The congress made no mention of possible annexation of Transnistria by Russia, foillowing speculatioh raised by a politician from Transnistria, Ghenadie Ciorba. On February 20, he wrote a post on Facebook in which he said the issue would arise at the congress and also that Russian President Vladimir Putin would recognise Transnistria in his speech to the Russian nation on February 29.

Ukrainian intelligence services, senior NATO officials and Moldovan authorities have dismissed that scenario. Despite this, some Romanian TV channels made the possible annexation of Transnistria by Russia headline news.