Moldova sees propaganda as breakaway region asks Russia for help

Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria asked Russia on Wednesday to help its economy from Moldovan "pressure" during a meeting of hundreds of officials that the Chisinau government said was a propaganda stunt to gain headlines. The region, long seen as a potential flashpoint with Russia in Europe, held a rare "congress of deputies of all levels" after Moldova required Transdniestrian firms to pay import duties to the central budget from January.

Moldova's breakaway region of Transdniestria asked Russia on Wednesday to help its economy from Moldovan "pressure" during a meeting of hundreds of officials that the Chisinau government said was a propaganda stunt to gain headlines.

The region, long seen as a potential flashpoint with Russia in Europe, held a rare "congress of deputies of all levels" after Moldova required Transdniestrian firms to pay import duties to the central budget from January. The congress passed a resolution saying it would appeal to both houses of Russia's parliament "with a request to implement measures to protect Transdniestria in the face of increasing pressure from Moldova".

The unrecognised statelet, which borders war-stricken Ukraine to the east, has maintained autonomy from Chisinau for three decades with support from Moscow, which has more than a thousand troops stationed there since a brief war in 1992. After Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, tensions surged around the separatist region which says it has 220,000 Russian citizens. Relations between Moldova and Russia have also frayed as Moldova's government has tacked a pro-European course and accused Moscow of trying to destablise it.

President Maia Sandu, in Tirana for a summit of southeastern countries, said that Moldova remained committed to a peaceful resolution of the Transdniestrian conflict. "What the government is doing today is making small steps for the economic reintegration of the country," she said.

Commenting on the congress, Russia's Foreign Ministry said that defending the interests of Transdniestria's citizens was a priority and that the request would be reviewed carefully, the RIA news agency reported. Moldova's government introduced customs regulations this year requiring companies in Transdniestria to pay import duties into the Moldovan budget.

The region's economy minister told the congress, held in the regional capital Tiraspol, that this had cut the customs revenues paid into Transdniestria's budget by 18%. "There is social and economic pressure on Transdniestria, which directly contradicts European principles and approaches to the protection of human rights and free trade," the resolution said.

Before it was passed, Moldovan government spokesman Daniel Voda said: "This is a propaganda event, a trap that does not deserve the attention of foreign journalists or sensational headlines in news bulletins."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)