Moscow has greatly curbed Dodon’s ardor regarding Transnistria
Moldovan President Igor Dodon has noticeably tempered his enthusiasm for a quick solution to the “Transnistria problem.”
In June, after the expulsion of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc from the country and the creation of a coalition with the pro-European ACUM bloc, he publicly declared several times his intention to “reintegrate” Transnistria almost within a year. At the same time, he accused the PMR authorities of collaborating with the fled Plahotniuc.
The Moldovan president then relied on the help of “international partners,” that is, Russia, the EU and the United States, who united to resolve the parliamentary crisis in Moldova.
Six months later, the coalition collapsed, and only Russia remained among the international partners supporting Dodon. And she is in no hurry to push Transnistria, which has been living independently for 30 years, into the unstable and contradictory Moldova. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak stated this several times.
“We need to let the government settle,” Kozak said.
Immediately after this, Dodon said that he no longer needed the help of external partners in Transnistria, because this was a purely internal matter.
“Such decisions must be made jointly, primarily in Chisinau. We must have a national consensus. Having discussed this in Chisinau, we must talk to Tiraspol to convince them of this formula. Only after this can the issue be discussed in a broad format,” Dodon said.
Anyone who is familiar with the mood in Tiraspol understands that Dodon will never be able to convince it. Transnistria 13 years ago decided in a referendum that it wanted to be either independent or part of Russia.
There is another sign that Moscow has greatly moderated the Moldovan president’s ardor regarding the left bank of the Dniester. Dodon stopped threatening to cut off gas to Transnistria for debts, which he did all summer.
“This is the debt of MoldovaGaz, which is a subsidiary of Gazprom. For the debt accumulated on the left bank of the Dniester, there are assets owned by MoldovaGaz, and in principle they respond with these assets. In case there is such a decision. But I believe that at the time of the political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict, in my opinion, these debts should be cancelled,” Dodon said.
Thus, he admitted that he has no right to interfere in the relations of the Russian monopoly with the pro-Russian republic.
At the same time, the question remains open whether the “pro-Russian” government of Moldova will finally begin to fulfill its numerous obligations to Transnistria: in the banking sector, mobile communications, transport, and so on.
Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Vasily Sova, who openly delayed all these issues, moved to the presidential administration. Alexander Flenkya, who formerly worked as an adviser at the American embassy and studied in the United States, was appointed in his place.
In Chisinau they believe that his candidacy was imposed on the president from Washington.
Therefore, you should not be surprised if, from February 1, Moldovan border guards suddenly appear at the checkpoint in Kuchurgan, Odessa region, and block the import of food and medicine from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus into the PMR.
Moscow has significantly tempered Dodon's ardor regarding Transnistria.